Codefreq's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Reign of Liberation]

UPDATE:

Thank you for clarifying.

The decisions you made regarding this song make a lot more sense to me now that you've explained your perspective. I think there is a lot of positivity in this piece; I get a sense of honor and hope. Given your intent I'd say you did an excellent job.

Original 3 1/2 star review:

"This piece reminds me of something out of Disenchantment; it has a strong medieval fantasy vibe. I like it. I'd like to know what your thoughts were when you were making this. Did you have a goal in mind? Was there a project your friend requested that you made this for? To me the title of this piece is confusing; the word "reign" is by definition authoritarian, yet "Liberation" means freedom. Can you say more about that?

I'd like to give you better feedback than that, but without knowing your perspective I can't, unfortunately. I need to know where you're coming from so I can give feedback based on how clearly I thought your ideas came through in this piece.

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

Dryak responds:

Hey, thanks for your review ;)
My friend is making a game for his school project. It is about a poor kid from middle ages that has a dream he is a knight. So I made this as his title screen theme.

I'm from Czech republic and I took this as kind of an oxymoron type title. If you wanted to translate this precisely (not literally) into our language it would sound like "The time when someone sat on a throne and liberated his country".
For us the word "reign" means "when someone is the ruler", so it has neutral meaning. We add the meaning based on words connected to that. So "Reign of Liberation" means a very positive ruler.

As for the vision I had in my head- I made a hopeful song. That was all. My brother mostly comes up with names for my songs, because he can give a very nice touch to the words in those titles.
His hobby is lore making and story writing, so he always has some picture in his head. For this one it was like a cinematic from perspective of a pigeon that is flying through the land and has flashbacks of what it was before and of what it is now with the new ruler sitting on the throne. (He also wants them to sound exotic, so for example my previous song "Stellarion" was named after latin word for star- stella)

[Intense fight]

How delightfully cinematic. :)

I can see the scenario play out in my head very clearly. The song is aptly named, as that's more or less what I imagine when I hear this.

I'd like to know what went through your mind when you made this. It'd help me give better feedback besides just if I liked it or not.

Why did you choose the icon you did for this submission? It's hard to tell what it is.

Still, I like this piece overall.

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

[Steak Of The Moment]

UPDATE:

Thank you for clarifying.

Now that I know this was a joke piece I better understand the decisions you made. This song definitely doesn't take itself seriously. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Original 3 star review:

"It's like a party in my mouth! :D

Seriously, though;

There are some technical issues I have with the music I recommend you consider. For example:

The dynamics don't vary a lot, meaning everything sounds like they're at the same volume. A little variation in the dynamics can improve the music quite a bit without changing the writing.

I'm not sure what piano plugin you're using, but I think your song would benefit from varying the velocity of the piano (how hard the notes are hit). Without that, the piano can sound flat and cheap.

After listening a couple of times I still find it hard to tell what ties your description to the piece you've created. The first 10 seconds, IMO, do a pretty good job illustrating the moment before you take a bite of the steak; it sounds like it could be the background music in a fancy steakhouse.

Bottom line: I think if you changed nothing about the writing itself but edited the technical aspects I mentioned and made the tie-in to the description of the piece more clear, this submission as a whole could be much better. As it is, I think there is a lot of room for improvement.

I hope this helps. :)

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

Zipf responds:

Thank you for your advice and response!
It was more of a jake-piece but thank you again for putting your thoughts into this well thought out comment! Im going to take it to heart, and maybe recreate Steak of the Moment.

[Deafening Gavel (Law's battle Theme)]

I'll tell you exactly what this makes me think of:

A side-scrolling action video game like Dust: An Elysian Tail, except with a modern, urban, anime-influenced aesthetic instead of fantasy themes.

The environment has cars, skyscrapers, condos, construction girders and platforms, and a dark, bleak, reddish sky. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has a Persona 5 stage sort of like this.

The main character you play as in this supposed game has just met with a recurring rival, who challenges you to a fight, during which this music plays.

That is what I think of.

Now, keep in mind I know nothing about your characters or what they represent. It's hard to tell as it is what you are going for, what aspects of Law's personality are, what Law's visual appearance is, and what other aspects make up that character. I can't judge how well this theme fits the character, Law, without seeing or knowing anything about them, which is the only reason I give this 4 stars.

Know that if I were just rating it on how much I liked it, I'd have a different, probably higher, rating.

I hope this helps. :)

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

thepixelatedcactus responds:

Thank you so much! I've never seen such constructive criticism. This helps me a lot.

[While the Leaves Fall]

UPDATE:

Thank you for clarifying.

IMO there's nothing wrong with what you did to write the music you wrote. My perspective is, regardless of what your process was, it generally helps me give you better feedback if you put that information up front. That way I know where you're coming from.

Now that I know what your process was, I changed my rating accordingly to reflect how clearly I thought you expressed the intent you did have.

Well done. :)

Original 4 star review:

"Coincidentally, this just happens to be the same style of music I listen to when I walk in the suburb I grew up in during the Autumn season.

I have two reservations about this piece:

1: It's unclear what you were going for when you made this. Can you say more about what ideas you had, if any, when you were making this song? I'd love to hear more about it.

2: More of a complement than a complaint, I feel it's just not long enough. I'd love to hear more of this. :)

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

Mel responds:

thanks for the feedback. im doing a challenge right now where i dont really stop to consider what im really making. i just create what im feeling in the moment. i was however thinking of fall while i was making it :) sorry i cant really go into detail on that haha

[Unfathomable Situation]

You've certainly captured the feeling of "Where are we?" in this eerie piece. I get a vivid image of being on the moon with a nearby space station that looks ominous and suspiciously empty. In that sense the music is not of this world. I think it could work as a title screen but also as an intro sequence.

The only reason I don't give this 5 stars is because I know nothing of Lovecraft and can't in good conscience say you did a perfect representation of that as a result.

I still think you did a phenomenal job accomplishing the rest of your goal. :)

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

PandaThePanda responds:

First, thank you for this review it really made me happy!
Second, I really appreciated that you shared your impression, because when I was working on it I had a completely different image or view in my head. Listening back with the moon and space as a theme I can really see why it can give off that vibe. It just makes me really happy that something I make, can be interpreted in ways I was not planning.
In other words, really appreciate you for taking your time to write this review!

[Credits Loop]

Interesting piece. Was this for some project? I recommend putting something in your description explaining the backstory, if any, behind the making of this song. As it is now I can only comment on what I liked and didn't like about this piece. If you'd like better feedback I need to know what your intent was when making this piece. The vague descriptors pique my curiosity. Interesting choice of audio submission icon as well. Why did you pick that?

I do like it, thought. It's got a real "Sopranos" theme song vibe to it. Like a shady bar or a dangerous part of an urban neighborhood.

I have no real complaints other than I want to know more about it. The mixing is well done too. :)

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

HarraH responds:

I think I made this as a backing track for the image, which is special.

[Solitude]

UPDATE:

Thank you for clarifying.

No worries. :) I don't think there's anything wrong with your approach. It does seem like a fun song. Sonically it does feel uplifting, IMO.

Original 4 star review:

"It's not clear from your description what your intent was, if you had one. I'm happy to give you helpful feedback but I need to know what you were trying to accomplish in order to do so. Otherwise I can only tell you what I like or don't like about your piece instead of how closely I thought your expression matched what you were trying to do.

I recommend, for instance, explaining why you chose your title, "Solitude".

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

JoeStasi responds:

Hey thanks for taking the time to listen to my track. I'd say my intention kinda changed as I made the track because I made it over the course of about a month and a half. At first I was going for a kinda emotional EDM track but then my mood kinda changed and so the last half sounds more like an upbeat Future Bass track xDD. I really just make music for the fun of it so I don't usually have much idea of what the end product will sound like, but I hope that clears up where I wanted the track to go :)

[Chrythm - Gust]

Interestingly, I do get a somewhat sinister vibe from this, but it's more of a playful kind of evil, like something out of Wario World or the Wario Land series. Not sure if that's what you are going for, but that's how I see it. If you'd like some more specific feedback than this, I recommend elaborating on your intent.

Also, I'm curious, why call it Gust?

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