Codefreq's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[True Damage - GIANTS (ft. Becky G, Keke Palmer, SOYEON, DUCKWRTH, Thutmose) Teckmo X Remix]

UPDATE:

Thank you for clarifying.

I definitely know how hard it is to sync vocals up with a song where the tempo is different. I stand by what I said about it in my review, though.

Knowing your intent now, I think the "party" aspect comes through pretty well.

The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars from me aside from the editing issues is I feel I'd have to play League of Legends to get the full context, and I don't plan on playing the game any time soon.

Still, I think you did a good job with this, as far as what it seems you are going for. :)

Original 4 Star Review:

"Without knowing anything about League of Legends, I think this is an interesting take on the original song. The editing could be a little tighter; some of the timings of the voices are off. The party beat is an interesting juxtaposition to the melancholy melodies present in the piece.

Given that it's a remix, it's hard to give constructive feedback. Remixing is its own art form, and if done with enough of a spin on the original, can provide a whole new perspective on an established piece. With that in mind, What was your intent with remixing this? I'd like to see the answer to this in your author comments so I can get a better perspective.

I hope you find the feedback I do have to offer to be of use to you. :)

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806"

Teckmo-X responds:

League of Legends is an online multiplayer game where you play different champs with different skills and use items to beat your opponents. The point of the game is to get to the enemy base and destroy the nexus.

The song first came to mind when I thought about adding vocals to my music for the first time (well second time after a collab with @jimmypig. I wanted something more in the party route of things which is how the beat came to be. The song is simple yet constructive in many ways. The vocals were actually in sync except for the ending where it says " Sleeping Giants". Synchronizing vocals isn't easy even for an experienced beat maker so I'm actually proud I took time to make it. The rapping parts were actually harder to sync with the song. The other hard part was coming up with the bridge towards the chorus because one of the singers speaks spanish and I wanted to add that part but it was impossible to sync unless I chopped every single word she said and that was too much work to begin with.

The point of this remix was to challenge myself to try and incorporate vocals into my music which is one of the biggest challenges I face with music making as well as mixing and mastering.

[Massimo Banzi]

Without knowing what "Massimo Banzi" is, IMO "A Strong Opponent" is a better fitting title. This feels like an enthusiastic, hopeful, and determined fight against the final boss of a Gameboy or NES game.

Other than that, I think you did a good job. :)

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

[Into the complex]

This really effectively gives the feeling of sneaking around an old warehouse at night. Currently, I find no improvements necessary. Very well done. :)

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

Yqarus responds:

Thank you for another great review.
I really appreciate it. I tried my best to give the listener a certain feeling while focusing on every other sound in this little chaos.

[Stellar]

UPDATE:

I see in your reply you did add what the song felt like to you. I can see it as a cartoon theme for a space station, much like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door or something.

You may think this is a small thing to add, but even something like what your piece reminds you of (in this case a space station), really helps me not just judge based on my taste, but judge based on how close the feel and vibe I get from the piece matches the feel and vibe you get from the piece.

Original 3 1/2 star review:

"I'm curious about the name, Stellar. Why did you call it that?

I think the volume could be made louder with some compression/limiting or normalization. that way the listener doesn't have to raise the volume for this specific song and then change it back when they switch to another song.

I think you should add a description of your thought process when writing this song. That way I can critique how clear I thought your intent came through rather than only how much I liked it.

As it is, I think it's okay. It didn't wow me. I may have more constructive feedback if you add the description of your thought process and also explained your intent regarding the title,

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806"

Banana-head responds:

Damn, i wasnt expecting to get a proper review from this lol, thanks for the feedback!
So, there's no description because there isnt much thought i put into the song, i just did it this morning. I came up with the bass line while messing with my guitar, passed it to the PC and started adding more layers to it. I called it Stellar because i thought it sounded like a space video game soundtrack.
About the loudness, thats mainly because the program i use to make these songs is not a proper program for electronic music, its a music score program that plays a midi of the score you wrote, so im limited to what this program offers me but its the only thing i know how to use well, i really should start learning how to mess with midi on DAWs and VSTs to get better sounds.
Thanks again for the review!

[lobby]

Wow, how did you do this in only a few hours??

I wish you had something describing your thought process while making this loop. Otherwise, I'm going to have to rate it based on my taste rather than the clarity of your intent, which affects my score.

What's behind the name, "lobby"?

Personally, I like it. It's kind of funky, with a feeling of being in an underground secret lair, such as Jack II for the PS2 or Watchdogs II or something. It's quite unique.

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

FwWFW responds:

Woah thanks dude. I appreciate the time you spend on this review.

[escape]

I can totally see this as an escape scene in an old NES game or a retro game in the style of an NES game.

I think the percussion at certain times, such as around 1:06 - 1:31, could be improved; the half-time drums somewhat get in the way of the "escape" vibe.

I also think you should use normalization to increase the volume.

Apart from those issues, I think you did a really good job expressing your intent clearly and effectively. Thumbs up! :)

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

[Silence in Solitude]

To me this is a piece with a sense of calm memories, as well as a look back with regret. Equal parts optimism and acceptance of fate. IMO It doesn't necessarily express solitude specifically, but I can see why someone might think so.

I think you could raise the volume of the piece using normalization.

Other than that, I think It's really well expressed.

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

ToraXD001 responds:

Thanks for the review! I tried expressing solitude as best as I could think of at the time, but I believe that's the beauty of writing theses kinds of music; different people can have different interpretations of the same track. It's always great to hear others' thoughts on my music to see what they think of them. XD

[Heat of Passion]

UPDATE:

Thank you for your reply. I now have a clear insight to your thought process while making this song.

Listening to this the second time around, the sound definitely has a blanket of almost a depression-like quality in terms of mood. The notion of "power-through regardless" is there, in that the dance rhythm that becomes present toward the beginning of the piece and remains throughout is almost at odds with the melancholy melody. That rhythm seems to be the only thing holding the song together. Reminds me of many times I've operated on one cylinder or less.

It's well expressed, although I'm not sure if others would agree with my observations. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt with my current rating of 4 and 1/2 stars.

It's not easy to make someone feel something in music. This song makes me sad, especially when coupled with your explanation of your thought process.

My previous 3 star review:

"Your current description, and I quote:

"Another result of hours of effort that's just going to be ignored"

I'm not reviewing your piece based on the idea that you may be baiting for reviews. I'm doing it on my own accord.

With that out of the way, here's my review:

I'd like to see in your description what your thought process was when creating this piece.

I'm curious where the title came from.

My opinion; It's not a bad song. There's certainly some attempt at emotion to this, but it's unclear to me what it is. Unfortunately, without a description of your thought process, that's about all I can say, and it's not particularly useful.

My score might change if you provided more info, and you may get more helpful criticism, too.

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806"

NeighbourhoodVandal responds:

The track itself is the product of insomnia. At the time I was awake for 2 days, and the creation of the track took place between 11pm and 5am. I was hyperactive that night for no reason at all, so I just focused all of that energy into the one thing that I knew how to do.

I've been dealing with a lot recently and, composing is my way of self expression - the things I make are a direct reflection of how I'm feeling at the time I made them. With that being said, the 'emotional' part of the track is probably unclear because I had a *ton* of conflicting emotions at the time. I just knew that I had to persevere through them, despite the fact that it was not easy to do so.

This idea of pushing through the bad, and reaching completion, despite being at what feels like the lowest point of my life, is what probably lead to the title 'Heat of Passion'.

[Golden Sun]

I'm giving my review purely on the sound and not the lyrics.

I wish you provided your thought process in the description so I could see what you are trying to do with this piece. It could affect my score; I prefer to review based on how clear I thought your intention was in expression of your piece rather than my own subjective opinion.

My opinion is I like it a lot. I wasn't expecting the imagery I got. Somehow you managed to make a typically urban-sounding dance tune with synthesizers bring vast imagery of partying at a beach coast under a sunset. If that isn't symbolic of times like these I don't know what is. ;)

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

[Climax]

I have no idea about the artist or animation you made this piece for, so I'm going to review based on my criteria.

As it is right now, it's not bad. It's certainly carries the vibe of an urban turn-based fight sound.

I think you could go further with this concept and have the "fighting" vibe come through even more, which could fit the title better. Here are some of my suggestions:

1: You could use compression and/or limiting to increase the volume of the track so people don't have to change the volume for this specific song.

2: This could easily be looped into a video game soundtrack. However, if that were the case, I think the first half of the intro should be cut off. As it is, it takes a bit more time to get into the "fight" vibe, and that extra time could make it less engaging.

3: IMO since the title is Climax, this piece would benefit from some progressive increase in intensity. I think adding more layers of synths on top of what you've already got would potentially really help the piece's energy, especially if you keep building and building more instrumentation as the track goes on. Whether or not you resolve the piece depends on what you are going for.

Overall, I think this does a good job expressing the "battle" and "fight" vibes. I hope you found my feedback helpful. :)

More info about how I review music here: https://codefreq.newgrounds.com/news/post/1089806

FatdelxeGD responds:

1. I dont think it was the limiting, It was cause Logic has a Normalizer and it automatically turns it on when I export audio.

2. I agree with that one

3. I was trying to do something like that but I didn't have a lot of ideas at the time.


Thanks for the advice!