SipherMT's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[FlashYizz - Water]

Overall, a really great track! My favorite aspects are the music-box sounding keys and the vocoder lead synth. They really give it a special flavor--a sort of North African vibe. The bass and percussion are pretty great, too. Very deep and crisp. I also like the contrast between the melody and the base, where one is constant and heavy where the other is light and floats around almost playfully.

However, I do think you overdid the compression. Looking at the waveform, there is almost no dynamic contrast happening in your song. Also, compression is so heavy on the percussion that it is distorting the bass drum. It's my opinion that compression should be used as sparingly as possible. When compression is used like this, percussion tends to lose it punch and clarity, giving the whole piece a sort of washed-out, unnatural sound. You did a much better job with dynamic clarity in your other song "Simple".

"Remember, the listener owns the volume knob. With no quiet, there can be no loud."
-Matt Mayfield

[Space Racer]

One of the best intros of an electronic song I've heard in a while. It was simple, well though out, and effective. Great choice for synths, I love how it had a slight pitch-wobble to it. It also had excellent reverb, it gave it a very spacey vibe.

The sub-bass was also super cool. I could barely hear its pitch, but it sure rumbled my headphones. I liked the contrast between the lead synth and the kick/bass. Sometimes I get annoyed when a song has too many instruments sharing the same frequency range and they start to step on each others toes, but your song handled that beautifully. Each instrument was clear and separate from one another and I loved it.

This is a petty concern, and totally based on personal taste, but I don't like grand piano in my electronic songs. Why? I don't know, just don't like it. I probably would like it more if it were some other electro-mechanical piano like a Wurlitzer 200 or a Fender Rhodes Mk II.

Anyways, amazing job. Now excuse me, I must ride my gay moped.

Nervousnoob responds:

Glad you liked it!

[HS - ID [To Be Announced]]

Wow, pretty awesome so far. I particularly love the polyrhythm happening with the arpeggiating synth and the bass. It really gave the song a feeling of momentum.

Also, great synth design. A problem I often have is that people don't take enough care with their synths and they can end up sounding weak and generic. I liked all the ones you used; some had edge, some were nice and creamy. Just plain good all around.

Keep it up.

D-Chain responds:

Thanks for the amazing review!
To be honest and fair, i often struggle to have a synth that embraces my idea of how a synth should sound.

[Finer Optics]

Thats a sweet intro! Love the synth design and effects. However, I was not a fan of the synth you used for the lead, and also I didn't care for the melody it played, either. It didn't appear too often, so I would think the song wouldn't be changed very much if it was left out entirely.

My favorite part is when one of the synths does a kick ass scoop on the last beat after a short pause right before the beat drops near the end. It was tasteful and spicy and really really dope.

Good job and keep it up!

fauxniim responds:

Thanks! I didn't know how well that transition to the second drop/chorus would do, so I'm glad you liked it.
And I definitely did have a hard time with creating a melody, so much so that I thought about giving up on it at the end. However, when I was thinking about removing it, I had already worked so hard on mixing it in that if I were to take it out it'd sound super hollow. I'll be wary of doing this kind of stuff in the future though!

[Day 1 Beat 1]

Pretty cool, dude. I like how the resonance on the kick-drum is not in the key of the song, so it clashes with the piano and the synths, giving the whole song this uneasy feeling. Very cool.

If I am to offer criticism, I think you should ease off on the kick. What i mean is its a little busy and seems to crowd-out the rest of the song.

Overall good job, keep it up.

Kraftor responds:

Thanks, SipherMT, will keep that in mind.
The kick I gave too much attention, layered few kicks and then adding an 808 with the little attack. Basically overcooked.

Thanks to you I will make it level with the other sounds. Your honest criticism is more than appreciated.

[Forward [Ben Lepper, SwS, Will RP, Drewpy]]

At you and your collaborators level of skill, I can only critique this song on a personal-taste aspect and not on a technical aspect. You guys really know how to make a quality song in terms of mixing, sound design, synth design, and other technical whatnot. This track (and your other ones as well) are of the highest quality and I can't imagine you making anything other than quality music.

If I am to review this song based on creativity and originality, I don't think it brings a lot to the table. At six and a half minutes, it overstayed its welcome. I feel that there isn't enough content to justify such a long song. There are some great ideas in this song; specifically I liked the guitar at 0:32 and 4:17, though these cool ideas are spread out and repeat themselves infrequently. I get that the motif established by the guitar is carried throughout the song on different instruments, though it's not an interesting enough of a motif to carry the whole six minutes. I completely understand that this drawn-out style could be the nature of epic trance and I just don't understand the genre a lot.

A minor criticism is that I don't particularly like songs with sampled movie quotes. This is a rather petty critique, but I still think that quotes don't add anything to a song. I do appreciate how you tied the quote back into the song at the end to remind the listener of the theme. It just seems to me that if you want to control the imagery a person gets from a song, you should add lyrics, not quotes. My final petty critique is that I thought the "pop" sound at 1:46 was dumb and out of place. I would refrain from using sound effects that could break the mood you are building.

Please don't get the wrong idea from me, you really do make amazing music. "The Bard" is a genius song and I think it is a perfect example of excellent songwriting and technical proficiency. This whole review is mostly based on personal preference and is not to be meant as an indictment of your skill as a musician. I would love to hear more of your music in the future. Never stop creating!!

Drewpy responds:

Thank you so much for your review! All of the 'petty critiques' you stated were risks for us in terms of songwriting. I very much appreciate this kind of criticism, as it gives me room to grow and improve areas where I may not be as strong. It means a lot, thanks again!!!

[electrodes]

Not bad at all! There are some really awesome things happening in this song. However, I listened to your other songs and I think this is the weakest of the three. That being said, it is still a very good song and I think you make amazing music.

You really know how to make a thumping bass line and the drums are driving and rhythmically interesting. Also, I love how you mixed synthetic drum sounds with real drum samples as you did with the first 16 seconds of this song. Another great part is the build-up, especially between 0:49 and 1:05, then again between 2:35 and 3:07. Those parts really got me pumped, however when the drop came I was disappointed. Instead of continuing with the same energy it fizzled out and sounded more like an outro than a drop. To improve it, try placing the drums and bass from 1:05 through 1:21 under the synths from 0:49 through 1:05. This is just a suggestion, you do what you want.

It seemed that part of your intro was backwards in terms of the tension build-up. What I mean is 0:32 to 0:49 sounded like it should come after 0:49 to 1:05. If that was how you wanted it thats ok, but it does come across as confusing. Also, there is a very abrupt transition at 0:32. I would try to smooth it out somehow, possibly by adding some synths shortly before and swell into 0:32. In fact there are several places in your song where there are abrupt changes that could be smoother. These rough changes are at 0:32, 1:38, and 2:18.

You are obviously a very capable and creative artist. Your synth design is awesome, the whole thing is mixed very well, and you have great ideas that really created a strong emotional reaction. Your song "The Force" is a superb example of that. It is simple in its concept, but it is extremely well executed and kept getting better second to second. I can't think of a single critique of that song.

I hope to hear more of your music in the future.

[LWYD (Instrumental)]

Hello, I saw the post you made in the review request club forum and thought I would give your music a go. I took a listen to all of the songs you have submitted, and all I can say is holy f**k, this is some good s**t. I can't leave a review for every song, but this review can apply to all of them.

I can't point to a single song of yours that I didn't like. Each one is professional and mixed extremely well. I also enjoyed the subtle use of panning various instruments around the aural stage, which is something that is almost never done here on Newgrounds. I can tell that some of these instruments are sampled, but they are high quality samples and it doesn't detract from the music one bit.

Every song here is radio ready. Even as instrumentals, they are unique and interesting enough to keep me listening all the way through. The fact that you specifically labeled them all instrumentals leads me to believe that there are versions of them that do have lyrics. If that is the case, I would kill to hear them. Each song has a distinct feel to them, and I agree with how you arranged them into playlists as each list had its own overall attitude similarity. Something that you managed to do that most professional have never figured out is how to create music that is different enough from song to song and but still remains squarely inside their style. You, on the other hand, have created music that keeps me listening while continuing be original every time and yet distinctly your own.

To make my compliments more clear, I'll use this song as an example. It starts off with a sexy all-the-boys-want-me bass and drum intro and a few synth accents to keep it interesting. The hi-hat comes in and I can feel it leading up to something, and with a simple 2 beat drum fill the guitars start with a cool and retro surfer tone. Now its back to the sexy beat and a repeat of the guitar part. At 1:40 is where the song went from good to great in my opinion. The whole attitude change was super effective, and the choice of instruments was just perfect. It is an unusual sounding kick drum you chose, though I think it created great dissonance with the simple and music-box-like style of the keys. Your song concludes with one more verse of the guitars and ended on the sexy beat. It was creative and satisfying, and the perfect length as to not overstay its welcome. 5 stars.

It's obvious you are not a novice to music. The production is excellent, the playing is clean and practiced, and the song-writing is fresh. I can bet this is not your first musical debut. You and whomever you may have worked with are professionals - who if doesn't do this for a living - has spent a good deal of their life dedicated to the craft. This leaves me wondering why you are bothering asking around Newgrounds of all places for reviews. You know you are good, and you don't need the approval of slo-mo-joes like me.

I will definitely be keeping an eye on any more music you might release here. Thanks for the wonderful music and never stop creating.

MIMOSAXL responds:

Hi Sipher,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to write such a detailed, relevant (and very uplifiting) review! This is much appreciated! :)

I actually do all of this by myself. I wouldn't label myself as a professional as my music is far from paying the bills for now. But yes, I have and still put a lot of time, efforts and heart into it and will continue to do so for as long as I can.

I originally put some of my songs on here hoping that some people could possibly be interested in using some of them for their project as I have always loved gaming and animated series.

Having some more reviews from "slo-mo-joes" like you and me would actually be great (but not that easy, it seems).

Regarding songs with lyrics, here is a link to my website in case you want to hear these:

www.bigbangfactory.net

Don't hesitate to let me know what you think.

Thanks again for everything,

J.

[60 Days]

Woah...Her voice is profound. I must say she put me in a trance the whole time, especially when she started to multitrack her own voice, or should I say, when YOU did that technical fiddly-bit stuff. Not to mention she is also a very talented guitarist, very solid performer. Did she record and sing at the same time, or was everything multitracked?

Only criticism: I really didn't like the filter you used on the guitar in the beginning and all the other parts that were similar (or was there even a filter? Maybe I was hearing something else). I felt like it wasn't necessary, but that is just a judgment call.

Very good job and I will definitely be downloading this and checking her other stuff out. 5/5, 9/10.

Jabun responds:

Cheers, SipherMT! In answer to your questions, everything was multitracked. There were 3 guitar tracks (not all of the time, 1 in the quiet bits and 2 more in the louder parts to thicken it up and add stereo width) and 5 vocal tracks (1 lead and a max of 4 harmonies). Interesting, there wasn't any filters on the guitar parts in the bits you mentioned; she was just playing REALLY quietly fingerstyle XD I'll pass on your comments to her as I'm sure she'd love it :D Really glad you liked the piece!

[Parisian rain]

Hits the spot

What a strange and unique song, i must say. The style and tone is both haunting and charming at the same time. In my mind i saw a cross between a carnival with a sense of magic and mystery about it and the streets of Paris on a dreary, rainy day. Again, great imagery in your song.

This was a shorter song than i would have expected, but it worked well in that length of time. If it was longer i might have gotten tired of the repeating chord progression; any shorter and i would feel that it was incomplete. If you were to make this any longer, i would suggest to play around with an alternate chord progression to act as the bridge of the song. But i like it the way it is at this length. (have you considered ending with a different chord?)

If there is any criticism i have, its that now you have created this great song, you need to find someone who actually plays the accordion and record them instead of using the horrendously fake synthesized accordion. Your song is written, now it needs a soul.

I know what you mean when you say that you have put everything about you into your song. The music you make will most always have meaning behind it-a story or image or emotion, but in any case, your music should always reflect a part of you. I would say the main reason i like your songs so much is that they seem so sincere and deep. I would be severely disappointed if you started producing music that was as artificial and soulless as most things i hear on NG most days.

Again, fantastic job. Never stop creating.