mr-jazzman's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[{Rose}]

Epicly inspirational

Wow. Reminds me of a cross between that rave stuff and the guitar skills of Dragonforce. Quite good, I don't know what else to say. As I'm trying to write a metal drum and bass song at the moment, it makes me realize one thing about the whole process: It needs to be balls to the wall the whole time lol! A few things though: The drums, IMO, would sound 10 times more powerful than they already are if you brought down the hi-hats just slightly, or possibly mixed it with a real drumkit (hell, I've been able to get a real pumpin' bass drum from real samples, not the 808 or 909 by itself; it gives it some extra pop that REALLY makes it have its niche in the mix). The ending also could have been slightly better; ending it on that reverse crash was slightly anti-climactic -- unexpected though. But still, this is definitely probably the best trance track on the site I've ever heard. I just wish that you'll read this comment, but alas, you won't, because it's mixed in with everyone else's reviews of praise lol. Nevertheless!:
10/10
5/5
P.S. That beginning swirly pad sent shivers down my spine. That seems to be a rarity these days on NG! Damn shame! =\

[Rigs printer contest!]

Damn good

Something that I appreciate about all of your dnb tracks, loops, etc, is the fact that they all have this great background noise. For me, I've got the drums down, the bass and sub-bass are punchin', the lead's shreddin, but it sounds empty without that ambient stuff to glue to together (like the shredding sounds and bleeping in the background of this loop). While the lead was a little obnoxious (I take it that vodka really did wonders for your hearing lol; it sounds like a shredder, which is interesting, but a little annoying -- probably cuz it's waaaay too damn loud lol), it's f***ing intense man. Everybody lacks that intensity on this site, and you nailed it like no other. I take my hat off to you!
9/10
5/5

NeuralFusion responds:

layer your drums more and get Izotop Ozone 4 for mastering, should help you out quiter a bit more man, remember the hp with the resonance at 0 take it easy bro.

love from australia

[HW - Logic]

Very breakbeat-esque

I gotta give you credit, this is better than my first DnB song. Quite original, in fact; most of the stuff that's put out here emulates the "almighty" PX9 (who's good, but overrated IMO). I like the chimes in the background, and the guitar (is that guitar? if it is, noice!) quite a bit. The wobbly bass and halftime drums you add at 1:15 give it a dubstep flavor that's otherwise absent in most DnB songs. The only thing I think you could have done better is varied the drum part a little bit more, like tried triplet beats in areas; brought the bass up in the wobbly section, as it becomes more like a lead instrument (not overly so, but it just has too much of a background flavor, when I KNOW that it has the potential to be nice and full); and, also, tried melodic extension -- which is essentially taking the theme of your song and experimenting with the melody to give it the same feel but a totally different pattern, keeping the listener enticed and also preventing the listener from getting confused on whether or not he/she is listening to the beginning or the end of the song (although, I do know it is the nature of DnB to get repetitive. It's okay to be repetitive if you think one particular melody is really important, but variation, I've found, elevates the song to a point that's really exceptional). The mastering's pretty good too, maybe just slightly too quiet, but hey, I like the breakbeat fashion of this song very much. For the first time, this is really good, I like it!
9/10
5/5
Fav'd.

haywirehaywire responds:

thanks a lot for the review man, yea its guitar, this was made just when i got my acoustic guitar so i recorded the stuff that your hearing in it.
true, the melody doesnt change much so i gotta give you that, thanks for the honesty.

[In The Darkest Days]

Epic

I really like this. The screaming's better than most anything else on this site. And the actual song is brilliant, blending elements from just about all areas of metal. Just a few complaints, however: I wish that the guitars had more presence (as of now they're really muffled), the solos were in the right direction but just need a tad bit more polishing (try some Hungarian minors, that shit'll blow your mind), and I think it woulda been awesome to sing in the soft, melodic part in the middle. But, as it stands, I love it! It kept me interested for the entire duration, it changed up enough, and the lyrics are powerful. Awesome job altogether!
10/10
5/5
Fav'd.

[Mother F*cker (Dubstep)]

Excellent

God, I miss that game so much, btw! The rhythms and sounds in this songs are to die for. The bass is superb, and the mix is quite good (there was a little bit of clipping I noticed in the treble, but this is minor). The only complaint that I really have is that I wish the bass felt just a little bit MORE present, if there ever was a way lol; it didn't feel dark enough at points - but still, it's an excellent song, probably the best song I've heard you make so far. Ingenious using Duke Nukem clips; I wanted to make a song in a similar vein, but alas, I haven't found the time to! =( Great dubstep track tho, one of my favorites on the site!
5/5
10/10
Fav'd.

[ThisMangledRottingWorld [V.2]]

Interesting vox, for sure

I gotta give it to you, although the lyrics are a bit cliche for metal, the sound of the vocals are definitely not. It kinda reminds me of something from Dark Tranquility. However, I was hoping for just little bit of singing at some point, mixed in with the grunting screaming (of course, that could just be personal preference; I tend to like the screaming style of guys like August Burns Red and We Came as Romans more, it just sounds cleaner to me...just personal preference). Still, love this song in its entirety. Very good mix; I wish I could produce something this well-mixed.

Deathcalypse responds:

Well the genre you are more into then is metalcore. This is more of the deathcore style, that usually has no singing whatsoever. But thanks for the score

[From Love to War]

Sounds just like Howard Shore in the beginning

This, for a lack of more mature words, "pwns" "Ganondorf's War." The bagpipes are something to die for. And, also, I love the major-minor contrast from beginning to end. The choir sends a chill down my spine. It reminds me of a classical form of the stuff that I'm trying to produce right now: This epic portrayal of love that shifts to the inner chaos of a person's hidden, angry emotions.
My only complaint is in the ending. It may just be me, but I feel like the ending was just a little bit sloppy; it felt like it should have had more bass in it for more power, come to a conclusion, not left you hanging out on this "squeaky" note that the bagpipe produces at the very end. I'm also a bit impartial to the ending drumwork and bagpipe melodies (which, I understand you're trying to produce dissonance, but it doesn't seem to work like I was hoping). However, I gotta give you credit, the ending is typically extremely difficult to produce because the composer can become lackadaisical in the work (i.e., he/she just wants the song to be finished). And, the song in its entirety is splendid, rich. I like it.
9/10
5/5
P.S. I hope that this review is just slightly less "childish" in your eyes. And, please, for your own sake, replace your old comments on "Ganondorf's War"; you shouldn't stoop to the level of ridiculing somebody that reviewed your song, even if it was harsh (trust me, I've suffered the exact same bullshit). It just makes you come off as arrogant, even if you aren't.

Bosa responds:

An excellent review, I must say! The ending for the song was made in haste, so I apologize for that; it's not like me to neglect any part in my music. I should have took the Hurdy Gurdy off when the choir came in. Also, the instrument being played with the French Horns at the end is a Zourdna -- just to clarify, of course :) I could have added more instruments at the end to add an epic feel (and I wanted to, believe me), but my computer would crash if it held any more weight.

Ganondorf's War took a lot of time on my part, and I felt disgusted by the review made for it. However, I have a lot of respect for you as both a musician and music artist. I will take you advice into deep consideration, and I will no doubt change my author's comments for Ganondorf's War. I suppose I wasn't expecting a review like that from somebody whose music I actually enjoyed listening to.

Thank you for the review and the friendship you have shown. I can't thank you enough.

-Bosa

[Cast to the Sky [V.1]]

Damn

I went to the Heavy Metal section this time expecting the top song to sound like complete garbage as it usually does, and you surprised me. This is beautiful! It sounds similar to someone like Dance Gavin Dance, but with a darker edge. And, I love the fact that it changes up a lot, but retains the main theme. Great stuff man, keep it up! It really makes we wanna write somethin in the same vein. Most DEFINITELY one of the best melodic metal tracks

Deathcalypse responds:

Thanks for the kind words! :D

[Power Blast]

Not bad for a loop

This isn't a bad loop. In my opinion, though, the drums could definitely use some work; they're not loud enough, and they're way too punchy. This can be fixed by taking the Maximus/Limiter off of the drums, and putting a compressor on the whole track. Also, try gating your drums, such that the snare stands out from the kick. Moreover, the drums could seriously use some variation; it sounds like the same drum beat mixed with a few different fills here and there. The melody is cool, maybe just slightly cliche, but still really cool. The thing that drags the melody down is the fact that it's made using Sytrus (and I only know this cuz I'm a bigtime FL junky; I know that you even used the preset piano at points). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sytrus, and it's probably one of the best synth VSTs you can get, but you should seriously try playing around with the presets till you get a sound that nobody can recognize. Just some tips on taking this track to the next level. Not bad though, not bad at all. Good luck getting it to have an edge to it! =)
8/10
4/5

Manhart responds:

Thank you for your review!!
That was exactly the kind of help I was looking for :D
I will definitely use your advices to make the song go to the next level !
BTW, I just realized that I actually already have removed the limiter, and added a Multiband Compressor ! :s

[Grey Abstract]

It took a while for me to write this review

I'll have to say man, that this is most definitely one of the most unique songs I've ever heard on the site, and I dig it. I didn't want to vote or review anything till I had the courage to listen to the whole thing all the way through, and I have to say I'm very glad I did. I admire the harsh omnipresence of the whole thing. Overall, the production is beau-beau-beautiful. The drumwork and all the little background things really make this one stand out to me.
However, there is one thing that I'm not entirely sure I dig. It's in the very beginning, that robot thing you add. In my opinion, you could have picked a different sound there, something that would make it feel more creamy, as opposed to so sharp and jarring, if you know what I mean. In other words, the robot voice feels kind of out place there in the beginning. But, I refuse to dock the whole song on one sound, because this song is so good otherwise; it reminded me of theme music to Galaga for the original PS lol! Good stuff man, really good stuff. Out of the other producers in the NGADM, you're definitely one of the best! Good luck man!
10/10
5/5

InvisibleObserver responds:

Thanks for the kind words, scoring and review.

My work stands out from a lot of NG, which sometimes people really enjoy, or they crinkle their nose and grit their teeth (Though frankly I'm happy with either response).

The robot sounding voice throughout the song I integrated much more smoothly in a manner that the garbled sounds it make punctuate the song in some way, however the ones near the beginning are somewhat intentionally breaking the flow, or to stand out. While this song has been written to be quite smooth, I kind of like adding in jarring sounds for the sake of disrupting what people may want to hear. I think in the case of this song though, if it had way more 'surprises' it would fit better, or if it had none at all it would be as you said "Creamy". But instead its at an inbetween, some sound good, beginning ones don't.

I may consider trimming them up for the sake of not scaring away feeble minded listeners who get daunted within the first 10 seconds.