chiptami's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Movie Night]

omg am i tripping balls or is the bassline playing megalovania o_o

Viraxor responds:

you are tripping balls

[Lurking deep in the fog [SNES]]

man they should have the snes chiptune competition here again...

nice one chep! (i still haven't forgotten about the kirbcore collab hajshajaj, it has been sitting there lately cause ion know what to do with it, but i will figure something out!)

Chepaki responds:

thx tree!! don't worry 'bout the collab too much, I took my time too so just do something if you feel like it/when you feel like it

[eleven sevens]

lmaooooo is that a "coda - no dice" reference i hear?

that song really slaps and this too! good luck on pixel day hehe

tiyumusic responds:

!!!YEAH and pretty much this entire thing was inspired by no dice ,, im sure that was really easy to tell but yeah
and its SUPER good, coda is an amazing artist and very much one of my top musical influences soooo references beware... there's also a really short studiopolis act 1 reference from sonic mania in here as well hehe

[VOID]

oh hey it's jakerson

hi jakerson, nice song btw

Jakerson responds:

hello tree! thank you! :DDDDDD

[Please Observe]

i certainly love the vibes in this, especially with that groovy bass. the mix itself is boomy enough from what i'm hearing, although the main elements (bass, synths and drums i mean) feel a bit too dry, i would suggest a bit more reverb (whether it's subtle or not is up to you, and don't forget to cut the low end of the reverb if you do use it on sounds occupying the bass lol), especially on those vocal samples. (paying attention they have varying amounts of reverbs... not sure if that's intentional but i do think the drier parts need a little more if this was on purpose) i also like the little details you put in this song that gives it its space, maybe make them a tiny bit louder to bring them out a bit. also with the crashes, feel like they're a bit too quiet. you could also add a little more by adding littler hi-hats to play behind your main hi-hats for added fullness. (they should play at a faster rate compared to the hi-hats, highly suggest applying glitch effects onto those) i felt like those rides at the end (3;21) should've been automated to be panned left and right, it feels weird if it's playing at the center along with your main elements.

overall, this is a nice house song. would actually play or find this in a club... good job!

Karabast responds:

thanks a lot for the review! i did go for a pretty dry mix as that was the direction i was going with it

dont really agree with panning the ride left and right but it could definitely use some stereo widening

[|11| Surfin' the Net]

hmmm this actually feels more indie to me... first thing that comes to mind is that you should utilize effects on that lead at the beginning, yes it is dry and repetitive, (and i think you purposefully made it repetitive) but adding effect automation (like idk flanger, gross beat, panning, etc.) and messing with the sound a bit really hooks the listener in without doing much to the melody itself. they really help for that surreal and psychedelic vibe.

those drums... are those fpc drums? nevertheless the hats and rides are a bit too loud, the snare could have a cut at the low mids and a boost at the highs and maybe layered (or even replaced, tho that type of sound already fits the vibe) with one that has more punch to it. i'd also add more punch to the kick, probably with some added compression and distortion. (but not to the point where it gets fuzzy tho) your fills are okay, maybe add in some toms for variety.

the song feels slightly empty when everything comes together, some pads playing big chords or added instrumentation could help make it more fuller and immersive. (added percussion and sfx would also help too) your bass could be a bit more louder at the low end... feels pretty weak honestly

a revised version of this eh? i really like the indie vibes this gives off, almost comparable to the ones one may find out there. hope it works well fam!

PartyBalloof responds:

Thanks for the review! I'll try to incorporate everything in my revision, though the list has gotten quite big now.

I have no idea what fpc drums are. The drumset I used is a mix and match of whatever I felt sounded good. I'm only using whatever comes stock with FL Studio Mobile 3

Here's the full list if interested:
WD Hi-Hat Closed 06, FL Linn CH, FL Linn OH, FL Grv Kick Acourstic 03, Hyper GoldenDays Snare 01, WD Ride 02, FL Broken Crash, FLGrv Crash 01

[Corpse Moth]

haha could see why this got the reception it deserved, absolutely maddening...

first time listening to this and i was genuinely scared for my life goddamn. listening to this again and i could appreciate more of the finer details that went to this piece. (also wow 19 time signature changes and the change in tempo is mad) that beginning is really solid tho, and yes it's because of the crazy sax. (and those pauses!) not really much i could say here since this is solid enough except the end felt rather lackluster than the rest of the song, like less detailed i mean, that's not much of a problem considering the other parts are already wild enough as it is. i do feel like there's a minor error in the transition at 1:53 with those strings being a bit loud at the higher octaves (or higher frequencies? idk...), and 3:40's transition could be a bit longer... i wonder what those few errors are on your end tho...

overall, sheeeesh!

LD-W responds:

Ayy thanks for checking the track out!

Yeah, the ending segments are another by-product of 'I ran out of time lol' syndrome which plagues the majority of my tracks haha. The track errors I have noted down are stuff like not volume automating the Aztec Death Whistle, a few EQ adjustments I'd like to do for the strings & scrape tones, a few CASE-based articulations I would of preferred to have in etc.

[Slvt Wannabe]

ahhh lost the original draft of this, will just break it down into points on the spot

+ooo sewerslvt inspired. first time seeing someone being inspired by them on here, cool stuff
-ringing can be felt in the amen breaks. detecting the frequencies that are ringing and cutting them would fix ths
+i like the glitchy effects and percussions, nice touch
+also the tempo changes
*although you could also pair this up with a key change, having the sounds play in a lower key and pitch them up once you're reading to transition. this'll bound to hit harder
*you should utilize more transitions if you want to lead into a section or change sounds, the changes at 2;32 and 3;02 feels a bit disconnected. if you don't want to use transitional sfx, drum fills and tweaking the instruments to help lead into the next section will help
~it feels weird having a transition at 2;22 and not making a change to the section like changing the synth, adding a synth, or just changing the melodies a bit...
-melodic synths feels a bit too dry. add some reverb and it's all good
-and while you're at it, some stereo widening wouldn't hurt to give more depth, especially to the amen breaks and the melodic synths which feel narrow
+speaking about your synth-scape, they're pretty nice hehe

overall, a nice listen...

Aster responds:

U forgor spume

[The Shopkeeper]

the voice feels so realistic and robotic at the same time, it scares me...

also holy shit this is bomb

vermeen responds:

heh glad you like it. yeah, synthV has awesome parameter tweaking, so you could really make a voicebank sound as real as possible if you really wanted to, but the robot-y ness can add to the aesthetic

[Light, Shine Down (Troisnyx Arrangement)]

hello! imo this is more of a cover than a remix since there's not much changes in terms of arrangement and composition other than the structuring and instruments used.

your take on this song and turning it to be more intense and orchestral with a small hint of a bass synth in the middle really compliments the source material. it's as if they were part of a movie soundtrack, with trois' theme being the main opening and yours being more of a "call to arms" theme.

listening to this mix and it's nice and full. nevertheless, when it all comes together, i can feel that this is a bit overcompressed, especially with ducking being felt on the strings. also, one can hear some muddiness down at the lower frequencies. further analyzing your mix and putting it on a visual spectrum, it appears that you didn't cut off the unnecessary lower frequencies on your instruments. this could clog up said frequencies and would give no room for the bass to stand out, hindering a mix. luckily this didn't damage this song too much considering that the bass instruments used are too weak. which is another thing. i loved the bass synth being used in the buildup, and it was a shame it disappeared when everything came together. a more louder version of that bass synth would've worked very well for those intense vibes.

compositionally, this is okay, memorable melody and well-structured sections. this song will benefit a whole lot more with transitions being used, both when leading into and leaving from a section. it feels like each part is disconnected from each other. (with 1;54 being the most disconnected from them all) whether that maybe in the form of sfx, an orchestral fill or the melodic instruments leading into it, there should be something to tie it all together. i'm nitpicking at this point, but the part at the end could've used a drum roll or at least extra ghost notes being played, as i felt the percussion ended too abruptly. also the violins should've done a little fade in at the beginning instead of playing so suddenly.

this song could also utilize some more variety in its instrumentation, whether that may be in the form of layering them on top of each other, a counterpoint or just sequencing them next to each other so they could play their respective parts. highly recommend choosing some instruments that can play the higher frequencies, as there's a whole lot of room left for them.

some humanisation wouldn't hurt for the piano playing at the start and maybe for the part after that. how you want to do that is entirely up to intuition. dynamics too. feels like your instruments are all hitting at the same volume, causing the song to fall a bit flat on its face. (i know there's probably some dynamics being applied, but it's not noticeable enough) the little things like that can really bring out the emotion of a song.

overall, this was a nice listen, both from the source material and even this. i liked how they're both their own thing and comparing them isn't even a thought on my mind. it's okay for what it is, although it could be improved a whole lot more to bring out its true potential. good day!

cyan11 responds:

Wow that's a thorough review!!! I didn't know what to expect to be honest. But thanks for the tips, production is not my strong suit, people like you notice things that I don't whereas average listeners might not pick up on it. I get it with the transitions too, I tend to not ease them in properly. Usually people who are technically savvy will critique my mixing as well. I appreciate you taking the time to listen and write this, thank you. I will continue to work on my production, though it is not my joy lol. If I could just compose and let someone else mix/master that'd be PERFECT! but not reality, gotta watch some more in the mix vids on youtube. For example, I'm not even familiar with some of the vocab, like dynamics. Couldn't tell you what those are lol. Anyways thanks alot.