Abstrack's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[EthoShark - Infinity Gate]

Very wide mix, I like it :O

The pops and radio sounds and white noise at the beginning seem very original to my ears, very well done there. It was like being located somewhere else than at my room.

At 1:42, there's a high end sample in the middle of the mix. If you listen carefully, you'll hear that its reverb is still going on when the bass comes back in. In general, I find that stopping the reverb as soon as the other theme takes on makes up for a better striking result, and it also leaves more space for other instruments when they are reintroduced.

At 3:25, the high synth doesn't reach exactly the tone I feel like it should reach. I enjoyed this part less because of that. At least, that's what I think.

The part at 3:43 seems to lack a proper transition, I'd say. The mix felt a bit less authentic to me.

By the way, I don't know if you put distortion or overdrive on your drum samples, but in any case I think the base drum is missing some punch. Not sure about this, but... meh, I felt like mentioning this. Maybe try to put an equalizer somewhere in the effects rack, or put some effects that mess a bit with the frequencies of the sample.

I wonder how you made the heavy synth in the drops. You played with the stereo widening, probably voices, and other stuff in a really impressive way. I'm curious about how you did it.

Otherwise: the synths design, structure chosen, mix, selected effects and ideas presented here are very well crafted. Well done, EthoShark!

Can't wait to see more of your stuff :D

EthoShark responds:

thanks so much :)
i really appreciate all the feedback

[EthoShark - World Between Worlds]

How the heck have you not even been scouted yet? Despite the simplistic feel, this sounds very realistic and satisfying to my ears. I've looked at your stuff, and you definitely have potential, if not already making great content. Keep it up!

EthoShark responds:

thank you! i really appreciate it

[God's Warrior & EthoShark & QWAZDYN - Forever]

Woah, I enjoyed this. The vocals are not varying enough in my opinion, and I feel like they have a bit too much gain. But hey, the melody, structure, sound effects and ideas presented here are very impressive. I almost feel bad not giving this 5 stars.

By the way, I really like the weird noises in the intro.

EthoShark responds:

thanks :)

[Fuck it]

Damn I don't understand how you can make so much great content in such a short period of time. It always impresses me how you always create something new, every single time. I hope you'll be able to continue doing music like this for a while 0_0

zybor responds:

Music is my drug, at least one of them. Everyday I get home from work, I have the choices of drowning myself with alcohol/weed/shroom/ketamine/DXM, or I can choose to stay sober and make music. Like other drugs, music drowns out my pain, both mentally and physically. It helps me forget about all the shit in this world, even for a moment. Every day it has become a ritual, I spend few hours before bedtime making music. Over the decades, I become so efficient with it I could make music under any condition or pressure. With other people they take times to formulate thoughts and ideas. For me I could just sit down and make shit without limitation for creativity and imagination.

Music liberates me because it's the only reason I haven't ended myself yet.

Thank you for your kind words. :)

[Painstalking]

Very glitchy sounds there, I like it. Never heard about the SNES contest, but you really are into these things I see huh. Good luck in there :)

And yeah, that "fuck windows" was lit. You should say that more often.

By the way, when do we start the collab? Are you still in?

zybor responds:

Sorry I'm still in, got caught up with lot of stuff. Thanks for reminding :P

[Distant Worlds [Techno Dream Step]]

I like the melodies of this one. I suggest looking up "sidechain" on google, just in case you never heard of it. It really can give the drum samples the importance they deserve.

[Onikuma]

This song was very interesting. You're getting closer to becoming a master at music production.
Keep it up dude!

[Shanlix - Joyful [Glitch Hop]]

I like the ringing bell synth in the beginning, it gives me christmas vibes. The melody is also very catchy, and I think the bass that comes in at 00:08 has the right shape (in terms of LFO and wave sample). The changes in instruments through the whole song keeps me engaged, and contributes to the story.

Here's the meat (I'm sure you know what I mean haha): despite the different sections with new melodies, the same instruments are used indifferently in almost every atmosphere (specific mood or vibe) of the song. Because of this, I find it harder to separate (and also, because of that, to understand, and then enjoy) the different atmospheres you wanted to express through your song. Also, despite the main melody to be quite catchy, the chord progression is a little cliche and it makes the whole thing less authentic, in my opinion (stealing this last idea from TaintedLogic's reviews: if you ever see this, please don't bite me with your copyright claims dude).

As for the sound design aspect, you seem to know at least a bit about how to make your sounds seem loud, and I like the white noise you used as a means of transition between sections. On another hand, I *think* you could try to use a bit more of stereo separation on your basses. In FL Studio 20, there's a stock plugin called "Fruity Stereo Enhancer". You should definitely try to play with that if you never did. My synths went from "brrrrr" to "BRWRWR" in like two or three clicks, and I think your basses could benefit from this effect as well.

In the end, I like the atmosphere of this song and the structure of its different parts. I think you could try to put a little bit more new details in the chorus as the song goes, but otherwise this is very well made. Keep it up!

Shanlix responds:

Okay thanks XD

[Anemoia]

Dude that's really well made. Keep it up!

DrayxMusic responds:

Thanks! :3

[Alone]

Damn this is good.

Dursope responds:

Thank you ^_^ mind sharing it <3