QJrocks's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Evilgrapez & Liminal - Azure]

Hi, I'm super late for this but I'd figure it's better late than never!

The background instrument for the first 30 seconds sounds slightly distorted. It's very slight, though, so I wouldn't worry so much about it.

I love the instrument at 0:44. It just sounds so otherworldly and fits well with the song!

Similar to the 30 second instrument, the background instrument at 1:20 also sounds rather distorted, and it's slightly jarring. Again, not a major issue, but definitely something to look out for in the future.

The descending notes in the background at 1:50 don't harmonize well with the rest of the instruments, and it sounds very off and out-of-place.

There's a static-y sound from around 2:14 to 2:20 that's a bit distracting. This is basically a minor nitpick, but it's definitely a bit out-of-place.

I'm going to have to agree with icegemini about 2:20 through 2:50, as in it doesn't really sound full. I'm not sure how I would fix or change this (some choirs, maybe?), but what you did at 2:50 seemed to work well. Also, the static-y instrument here needs some definite toning down, it gets rather obnoxious after a few seconds. The transitions here were pretty well done in my opinion, though.

2:50 through 4:05 or so was really well-done, in my opinion. I couldn't really find any major flaws other than it starts to drag on a little after a minute, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

The snare drums that start at 4:04 really don't fit with the rest of the song. They need to have their volume mixed down or have it equalized so it feels less "punchy", for lack of a better term. As is, it just doesn't sound very good in the context of the rest of the song though. Aside from that, I had no problem with the rest of the song.

I'm going to be stealing from icegemini again: the base idea of this song is great! It just needs a little bit more fine-tuning what with the static, the distortion, the out-of-place drums, and a few bad notes. Just keep an ear out for these sort of things in the future, and you should be golden! I think.

Either way, keep up the great work!

Evilgrapez responds:

IT'S YOU

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Thanks for all the feedback, man. Great to hear from you again. More stuff for you to dump reviews on will be coming 2018!

[~Sun & Moon~ (DREAMSCAPE PRE-ORDER TRACK)]

Hey, look, I haven't died and stopped making reviews!

First off, I absolutely love the pianos in the beginning. It's incredibly relaxing and just so amazing.

The drums at 0:22 are something I normally wouldn't associate with a relaxing piano piece, but you took it and made it work incredibly well, so props to you for that!

The bass instrument at 1:09 just doesn't fit with the song. It gives off a monotonous, droning feeling and I think a different instrument would have worked much better.

The transition at 1:32 is kinda sudden, but the atmosphere of the part is here is absolutely amazing, although the drum volume probably should be lower than what it is.

The bass instrument at 1:58 is the same one as before, but it sounds much better. I don't know why, but clearly you did something right.

Again, amazing atmosphere at 2:53. You really need to do more songs with this kind of tone!

The instrument at 3:16 is the same as the last 2 times, yet it sounds monotonous and droning again. Maybe it depends on what instruments it's paired with.

I love the little jingle at 3:45, gives the song a bit of extra flair and diversity.

The key changes at 4:14 and 4:26 feel underwhelming, and I think I know why. The key changes sort of give the tone that they're building up to something, and the same old slow drums throughout every key change sort of kills that mood.

And again with that one instrument. It sounds good at 4:59, but bad again at 5:10. I just don't know what it is about that instrument.

Anyway, this song was great to listen to. The electronic sections had a few minor issues like that one instrument and a few ear-piercingly high notes, but the ambient sections were an absolute joy.

4.5/5

Evilgrapez responds:

Thanks for the review! Reading it was really nice. I might make a full song with that kind of tone sometime! The little jingle was just a minor detail I thought I'd add. I'm glad someone noticed it! Anyways, the instrument at 4:59 is a completely different one, actually. It does sound pretty similar to the one before, though. I don't know what's with it, either, really.

Thank you again!

[~Fallen Dunes~ (Mharadium & Negativity OST)]

I really like the atmosphere at the beginning. It seems calming yet unsettling. It's really unique how you managed to do that. Although the claps starting at :46 completely shatter said tension. Oh well. There's nothing wrong with claps, but you don't put them into ambience tracks. You just don't.

The transition leading up to it is weird, but the part at 1:10 sounds really nice. Except for the claps, of course.

The instrument at 1:25 is off-key and it's really bugging me. Please fix ;A;

The part at 1:41 also sounds nice. It's calming and otherworldly. Then the off-key track comes in at 1:56 and ruins everything. IT DOESN'T EVEN HARMONIZE WITH THE SONG GOSH DANG IT MAN

I swear that one track and those claps absolutely destroy the entire feel of the song. It makes me upset, because I like the rest of this song, but those two things are holding it back. And I mean 1.5-star-loss holding it back. If you were to fix those, this song would be a perfect 5. Until then, though... :(

-QJrocks

Evilgrapez responds:

dangit i was so close

guess it's kinda late to fix those now

maybe ill revisit the song later in a v2 or something

[~The Curious Explorer V2~ (Team Newbie Adventure 3: The Quest for True Swagg OST)]

The first 30 seconds is a pretty good intro, and despite it being that long, it didn't seem repetitive. Props on you for that.

Past that, it just seems a bit empty. The drums at :45 help a but, but still. It isn't until 1:00 until the track picks up again.

And the track goes back to empty at 1:30. There's an effect where it fades back and forth, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad. It was definitely unexpected, though.

And I'm just confused at what happens at 2:04. It doesn't make any sense and is just out of place.

I really like the background instrument added at 2:31. It adds a really cool extra layer of depth and it sounds really nice!

Overall, this song has a nice rhythm, but feels empty at parts.

(Sorry this is a month late, I'm way too good at procrastinating ;A;)

Evilgrapez responds:

I'm just as bad at replying to reviews as you are at being on time for them. :P Thanks for the review! :P

[Pianore - Ceres]

I like the intro. It's nice and calming, and surprisingly, doesn't sound jarring when it transitions into the drop, because the drop is somewhat calm. A calm drop sounds really odd, but you seemed to pull it off rather well.

Again, I really love the in-between parts. You could probably make some good non-dubstep songs, if you decided to try it.

The second drop, though, was hardly noticable. It felt more like a transition than an actual drop. It works well with the calm atmosphere, but the drops are supposed to somewhat stand out. The first drop did this rather well, but this may just be something personal and not actually an issue.

Good work! Those 50 hours definitely paid off!

4.5/5

Tennon responds:

Yeah ikr, the wubs in the second drop are very quiet. But anyways I will try to improve my drops, thx

[~Stereo Cube - Avenoir (Evilgrapez Remix)~]

I turned my volume up to hear the piano, and then :19 happened. RIP ears

The part after the speech seems odd, although that may have been part of the original. 4 bars of sound -> 4 bars of nothing is just kind of weird to hear.

Ok, I think I might prefer the 4 sound -> 4 nothing, having that instrument on all of the time is kind of obnoxious and blaring.

You really should've picked a better instrument for 1:55. It becomes especially apparent with that high-pitched noise at 2:03 which is just painful to listen to. Also, I'm pretty sure that the chords are off.

2:22 actually has a pleasant-sounding instrument. Oh wait, it leaves at 2:27. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Also, what happened at 2:29? It sounds like a note, but then it just cuts off. It's at 2:33, too. And at 2:43. The more I hear it, the less it seems like a mistake and more like a bad design choice.

I really don't like this song. Amd it may be because of my own preferences, or something else. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that most of the problems I had here were in the original song, too.

3.5/5

Evilgrapez responds:

Thanks for the review anyway. :) Good to see you again. :P IDK what instrument you were talking about at 2:22.

And the thing at 2:29 was actually a mistake. Oops! :P

[~Starflight~ (1 YEAR ON NEWGROUNDS)]

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, I feel somewhat terrible now.

The first thing that really stuck out was the part at 1:42. It just drops everything for no real reason. It doesn't ruin the part, but it seems so sudden.

The drums at 2:48 are just so... jarring. They're too loud and broke the immersion for me.

Well, um, that's all I really have to say. Sorry.

It's a good song, but there are a few areas for improvement.

4.5/5

Evilgrapez responds:

Thanks!

[The City of Gold]

This is a really nice song that flows well from one part to another. The only thing I noticed was the infamous part at 2:14 which changed the mood completely. It feels like the parts before and after that point could be 2 separate songs. But that's just a nitpick.

Great job!

Step responds:

Sorry for the super late reply!

Thank you very much for this review. Yeah, those two parts do sound quite disconnected, but I did have a reason for putting that there, which is based on what actually happens in the game whose soundtrack this arranges.

Thanks again!

[Valiant Runner]

It's a good song, but the second half gets stale and repetitive.

Sorry this is a short review, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. Sorry.

[~Hero's Fire V1.5~ (Trailer Music) (Team Newbie Adventure 3 OST)]

Ah, I remember the old Hero's fire! If I recall correctly, the old one had great drops but everything else meh.

Well, I can certainly say this song was a lot better! It's very energetic and upbeat. My only complaint is that it's very short. It was good while it lasted, though!

It wouldn't be fair to take off stars for length, so you get 5 brand new shiny stars!
-QJrocks

Evilgrapez responds:

Hey, thanks! It's short because it was made for the trailer, lol.

EDIT: Spoiler Alert: An official V2 to Hero's Fire will be in the OST. :)