Maltloaf's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Night Battle]

Not all tracks need a melody...

...and this one works pretty well without one. Awesome percussion man!

It probably doesn't work so well as a theme for night combat - the sounds you've got in here make me think more of a chase in an industrial zone or mecha combat. Lots of machinery, tight quarters, everything bearing down on you.

[.:Bored at 2AM:.]

Neato.

Given the quality of your other stuff, I'm guessing you didn't finish this one. :]

I'm liking it - it's got the feel of a good boss fight to it, complete with the cinematic intro. The drums could do with a bit more oomph, and it's on the short side (experiments normally are. :]), but there's a lot of potential here if you ever chose to come back to it.

I know I haven't commented on your stuff in a while, but keep up the good work. :]

GronmonSE responds:

I'm very lazy when it comes to writing music to be honest. Didn't finish it indeed, and I probably never will.

I didn't master the track, so yeah, the drums lack power because of that.

Thanks for the kind comments :D

[{SoulX} FF7 Jenova theme 2]

Starts well...

Most of the problems are volume related. The synth lead you have and the (synth) brass section just overpower everything else - if you start by bringing up the volume on the background sequence, piano, and drums, it'll sound a lot better right away. As it stands, you can barely hear any of them once the lead comes in.

It's difficult to say much more than that - I'm not sure on the lead synths, but they might sound better with the volume balanced. Tough to say at this point.

Keep at it! :]

DragonsoulX responds:

kewl, thanks for the adice, is nice. i will look at this when i'm not drunk, so then i know what to do...thanks for the review and tips.

[Carrington Institute (PD)]

Not bad at all...

only thing I can pick out is a problem with the bass line - it's trying to go too low and as a result sounds wrong.

This is a midi technique - I don't know if it will work for you, but it never hurts to try. What I tend to do is to have the bottomed notes play on a quieter sine wave at the same time as the instrument itself. The sine carries through below the original instrument and the note sounds right - provided you don't go too far below the range.

That said, this track will probably work if you just move the bassline up an octave. The body's pretty high, so it shouldn't clash.

Sorrow-316 responds:

daw, its just my Memory Banks of BASS instruments is Garbage, i cant get the right bass even if i was slapped with it. i tried what i could tho. Thanks for the Review!

[solo for eagle]

Looking Good...

I know it's not the focus, but the drums and the bass at the beginning feels off. I'm assuming their midi? :)

They're overpowering the solo itself (at least on my setup), but thats all I can pick on. good job. :)

tal-52 responds:

ya they are midi(wish i could find some people that live close to me that can actually play). ya the drums kinda overpower but i really just wanted to see people's opinion on the solo itself. thank you for giving you opinion on the solo, it helps me improve.

[Forest of Curruption]

I can't see why this is scored so low...

Beautifully done. I'd bow down to you but I've put my back out. :P

Only reason it's not getting a ten is a slight hiccup in the looping. Shouldn't be a problem for a short cut scene, but for anything longer those pauses when a song loops get annoying.

Wolfguard responds:

yeah sorry i didnt mean too set it as a loop... ill definitly fix that up.

[-Chain-]

Good sound

You probably want to try and work in some key changes or tempo changes. It helps to break up a piece and keep the listener interested, as well as giving you more to work with.

Havik99 responds:

Thanks for the advice.

[DontmakemeDestroyyou]

Needs work.

Its a good intro, but the track just feels flat - there's no real development and the constant volume ramp on the drum loop gets irritating quickly.

I almost thought it was going to break into dance when the the key changed, but nothing happened. :/

Gravelcore responds:

thanks for the review ill take this in mind for future songs ... this is only my 2nd song ever lol

[MS - Termination]

Nice

The more I listen to the other submissions, the more I realise just how far behind ya'll I am. I should stop listening to them. D:

Anyway, good luck with the contest.

Only issue I can see is the way it loops - it doesn't quite fit the energy you have going through the rest of the track? That said the join is flawless. :)