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)

[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 :)

[Power Spells]

UPDATE:

I see. Thank you for clarifying. In a way, even with the name change, I think it still makes sense. spells could be considered power-ups depending on the context.

Glad I could help. :)

Original 4 1/2 star review:

"My initial reaction is this: I can see the shoot'em-up this music would match to. Something in line with Ikaruga or the like. I think it definitely captures the vibe of cyber-themed action quite well.

After checking out the Kickstarter link, I also think it fits the video game in question nicely.

The only thing I'm not clear about is the name. Why this track called "Power Spells"?

Oh, and one other thing: the ending is strikingly sudden. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt because I don't know if this piece was intentionally written that way due to the requirements of the project or whatever.

Anyway, I think this is well expressed. I hope you find my review helpful. :)

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

Shifterhead responds:

Thanks for the review! The name was actually gonna be "Power Pills" like taking a power up or something but then that movie Power came out about pills that give you power and I didnt want that to have relation or something. So I just changed the last word without thinking too much about it jaja. Thanks for checking out the game, there's still a long way to go. Oh and yeah the ending was abrupt cause of a need of looping to another part of the song.

[A Stroll Down St Pancras]

You really captured the sense of hustle-and-bustle of being in a transport station. I've never been to St. Pancras International but the closest thing I can think of that I've had experience with is O'Hare airport in Chicago. To me there's almost a sense of urgency; I can see people hurrying and trying to make their plane/bus/train with their suitcases while moving through a crowd of people.

The vast production, in my opinion, also shows a feeling of determination. The imagery I get is something like: You're at the bottom of a large cliff, there's nowhere to go but up, and come Hell or high water you're going to climb it.

I'm not quite sure if that's what you were going for, but that's how I see it.

Reading your description it seems like one thing you were going for, though, was a sense of optimism and freedom. I can definitely see that.

The only thing that keeps this from getting 5 stars from me is this: To me, something about the flow of the piece seems to get in the way of what you're trying to do. I think this is especially the case when the quiet part hits towards the middle. I'm wondering if it would be more effective if there was a continuous buildup of instrumentation to reflect ever-growing positive energy, and at the end is where the quiet part would come in. Just something you may want to play around with.

Overall, I'd say you did a phenomenal job. :)

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

Troisnyx responds:

Thanks for the thought you put into your review, much appreciated.

I hadn't had the strength to mention this, but if you haven't been to St Pancras, it truly is something else. If you have time, you can get lost in its beauty, stop at the eateries or the high-end shops, or walk around and soak in the architecture, which is a happy marriage of the old and the new.

If you're pressed for time, you will find yourself tempted to pause, listen to the buskers, or catch glimpses of a beautiful place. You hesitate. You think, "I hope I have enough time to see these beautiful people and things..."

St Pancras is an international symbol, being the gateway to continental Europe. Certainly in 2015 and not so much now, I could look at it and say, "Ahead of us is more of the European Union to explore." Imagine what a sense of liberation, joy, *pride* there is in that.

That pride may be gone from the UK but I still remember it, and hopefully have captured every moment of it.

[Loto]

UPDATE:

Thank you for clarifying. What an interesting backstory. :)

Listening to this again after reading your description, I see the imagery quite clearly; a video camera following a flower drifting down a stream in a forest during a moderate rainstorm.

As far as the vibe goes, you pretty much nailed it.

By the way, when I mentioned it reminded me of playing Minecraft as a kid, I was referring to the way the piano part was composed and mixed. It had nothing to do with the square wave.

Original 3 1/2 Star Review:

"This piece reminds me of the days I played Minecraft as a kid; The piece feels quite calm.

I'm curious about what your thought process was when you made this piece. It would help me give a more accurate rating and better feedback because I'd be able to judge based on how clearly I thought your intent was rather than how much I liked it.

Here's some info you could provide: Why did you pick the title? Why did you pick the thumbnail art you did for this piece?

I hope this helps. :)

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

SamTheHare responds:

Updated reply:
I have no more words more than thank you.

Orignial reply:
Here's some information about it.

I usually make music when I'm feeling bad or sad, as a way to cope with all my problems (That's doesn't mean I don't make music just for fun, tracks like Bored or Goblins dance are made just for fun without thinking so much about what I do and Why).

Loto was made as a concept of a Loto (Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera. Loto is the Spanish name for it) going down a stream while there's a thunderstorm. When the storm ends it ends in the sea and dies. I felt like that flower when thinking about what to do. I felt down and hopeless but I didn't want to make a beat that made me go ever worse so I thought about giving it a sad but relaxing vibe.

I choose to use the izotope vinyl plugin to make it sound like an old recording, as a way to say "That's a bad moment but it's in the past so it doesn't matter." and I actually love the sound of old recordings so that was an essential choice.
I started making the song with an 85 bpm generic lo-fi beat. I used lots of reverb and LP filter especially in the Kick and the Snare because it sounds like something far and nostalgic. Like the memory of a bad dream. Also, I gave the kick some panning to make it sound more immersive

The piano is not so much of a deal. I used the FL keys with reverb and LP filter as the drums with the plus of a gross beat to give it a kind of fading in and out effect when the beat starts.

The chords are just a square wave with a little attack and an LP filter, guess that makes it sound like something from a game like Minecraft or Terraria.

The bass part works pretty the same as the others, there I used an electric bass sample and simple sine wave sub-bass.

So I ended with nearly the final result but I felt like something was missing, there wasn't rain so I just low pitched a sample and gave it some LP filters and reverb.

If you want the .flp/separated tracks to analyze it better just pm me and I can give it to you (^^)

About the thumbnail to be honest with you I didn't put so much effort into it, I was pretty tired atm so I just used a black/purple background and some white text to make it look good.

Thanks for taking the time to write your review!

PD: Sorry if I'm not so clear with my explanation/grammar, I'm pretty bad with that :"D