Reddrad's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dark Remember (improved)]

this is certainly a very interesting song. in all honesty, i thought it was pretty alright. im gonna touch on the main aspects of this song

COMPOSITION:
this is where the piece stood out to me. the melodies were so simple, yet they achieve emotion. the way all of the tracks went together was really pretty, and the progression was understandable and not too repetitive. i loved the melodies, i loved the basses, i loved all of that. my main critique for this is the same-note 8th notes. it's rare when 2 of the same notes right next to each other that fast sound good, and this is not one of those rare times. i would recommend simply tying them together to create one quarter note. same goes for the 16th notes

INSTRUMENTS:
the electric guitars and electric basses sounded fine. i have no problem with them, and i in fact like them and think they fit. the drum kit used, however, sounds too empty for me. the synth bass as well isn't nice to listen to. it has too much high end in my opinion, and here's where i get into...

MIXING, EFFECTS, FILL, ETC.:
this was definitely the song's low point. it sounded empty; a pad is REALLY good for making something sound less empty. in the future, using pads could turn your song from meh to beautiful. the effects, or lack-thereof, dragged the song's quality down. maybe you could have quiet white noise to simulate rain. there's so much you could do to really make your song fuller. as far as mixing goes, that's just removing unnecessary frequencies on instruments. for example, on most instruments, the mids are typically lower than the trebles and basses because the mids make the instrument more "boxy", making it sound like it's being played inside a box. you could probably just watch a simple mixing tutorial to fix that

overall though? this is really pretty. if you want, i could make my own version of this piece and try to eliminate the issues, but that's fine if you don't want me to. as it stands, this is a pretty good song

Dj-K7 responds:

ok :)

[2004 (2003 VIP mix)]

this is a step up from 2003, absolutely
i like how you actually made it have more variety, but when you want to make a song that's 5 minutes long, you'll need more variety than what you have. if the song was only 3 minutes, then it would feel WAY less repetitive, and the stuff you have right now would be fine. you don't need to make a song long. now obviously, it's one thing to repeat a part (i do that all the time for my choruses), but when you repeat every single part multiple times, it doesn't feel original
also missed synth solo opportunity beginning at 3:48 tbh

good, but still needs some more work i'd say

Januaryheads responds:

thank you for your feedback! i will try to make stuff less repetitive.

[.driving by night.]

i really like this
i've always been a sucker for more "chill" music, and this is right down my alley. everything works together well and you obviously have experience, and this song is, despite being a bit simple compared to other works, very memorable
you've done great with this

[dont do drugs men...]

awesome. sucks that this got 0 star bombed bc of gd tho

[Check Out]

overall a very unique dubstep song
i think where this stands out the most is its melodies, especially the one that starts at 0:22. there's something charming about it. it's not calming per se, but i can't find a better word. it's also an inspirational one as well. it's kinda like your dad telling you "you'll get em next time, champ". love it
good stuff

[Windows 10 Type Beat]

i really love unique songs like this that use some kind of sample that would seem strange but actually turns out to be really good
the song itself is also just really good, it kinda gives off lounge vibes. adding the sample was really good though despite it seeming like a strange addition on paper. now that i think about it, this could be good for like a nintendo eshop song (back when they still had songs for eshops). sort of gives off that vibe
but yea this is awesome

[Getsix - Chasing the Dragon VIP]

i love the mix between synthwave and rock
the guitars sound fantastic and so does everything else, and AAAA it's just awesome

[Ablixa]

still one of my favorite songs
the synths are awesome and it feels like nothing i've heard before listening to it for the first time. i remember being blown away by the song when i first listened to it, and it's still amazing now
good stuff

[Creo - Dimension]

7 years later and this still is awesome

[Combat Mode]

overall, this song is really good
i like the beginning's ambient like feel. it starts with a simple plucking melody, then a bass kicks in. the rest of it is super smooth and i love it
i like the end's drums. it definitely gives light to the name "combat mode". the drums are so unique yet so awesome at the same time
one thing i'd change is the end. it just suddenly stops, and it feels super unsatisfying. other than that though, this is really good