Abstrack's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Vista Sounds - Envoi]

envoi is a french word that doesn't need an e if you take it as a noun ;)

(it means a shipment in this case! very fitting with the airy feel of the track imo)

Very chill mix, perfect for focusing on work.

Vista-Sound13 responds:

I honestly thought it was a literary/poetry term that means an author's last words, which inspired me to make this. I did learn about the french meaning of it though.

Anyway, thanks for the enlightenment and the words, pal. :)

[ALESDA! - Ryujin]

Another banger. The atmosphere and depth of the track kept me engaged for the whole thing. You are getting good at it, that's for sure.

Not sure this is even ambient, but what is it otherwise...? Ugh anyways.

Keep it up! You're making the world a better place with your very creative content.

AleXizGD responds:

Aww thank you so much for the lovely feedback. <3

[Punch Drunk]

Very original creation. I wonder how you got those nice sweeping samples. Keep it up!

Quarl responds:

I'm not sure what you mean by "sweeping." Usually I use that term to imply panning from side to side. If you'd like, you can take a gander into my RSN file? You can download a trial of Propellerhead's Reason to open it:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z3Nk6aIqOSpu6cF6tr23FCj0TqkrSk12/view?usp=sharing

If you notice any problems with that file, let me know and I'll fix it. Everything should be self contained :)

[Life After Us]

I love how you used a lot of reverb and delay-like effects to create depth.

I can definitely hear the quality going up in your recent releases.

Keep it up, you're amazing. :)

zybor responds:

Thank you for your review, Abstract. :)

Have a good weekend and take care.

[Sustainability]

The percussions chosen really help to give the atmosphere a "natural" twist. I like how sometimes there's more "artificial" or "metallic" samples popping out (see the high pitch percussions in the section starting at 00:48), I can see how this relates to the themes "sustainable environment" and perhaps also "pollution".

I must say, the bass of the section starting at 02:08 is really interesting. The bit-crushing allows it to merge well with the drum, and contrasts with the more "nature" atmosphere the song started with.

I think I don't have much complaint, except for the a little abrupt ending and maybe for some percussions that I don't hear well because of the bass's presence at 02:24.

Overall, I believe you did a great job at representing the issues we have with the environment currently.

Happy holiday :)

zybor responds:

Thank you for your detailed reviews :)

Happy holiday and New Year!

[Siberg - Terminus]

I like the groove of this one.

My ears got a bit tiered of the hi-hat after a while, and I could only focus on it at some point. Not sure how to fix this, I suggest trying to adding an equalizer or a compressor.

Other than that, this is really strong work. I like how you used panning on the drum samples to enrich the atmosphere. Keep it up!

Siberg responds:

I could've added more percussive elements to it but I'm happy with it overall. The hat is repetitive but that's quite common in this kinda music, you could focus on anything in house music and hear it too much. Thanks tho

[Shanlix - Once upon a time [Melodic Dubstep] [Squel to Medieval Journey]]

Congrats for the frontpage! :D

Shanlix responds:

Thank you. :D This is the second song that got frontpaged but yeah I am really proud of it.

[Millika Village - Main Theme]

If I overlook the fact that this is actually 5 times the exact same song in a loop, I find the mood to be quite interesting. I listened to 3 of the 5 loops before even realising it. If I hadn't understood the structure of this song, I would be saying "this is gold!".

Raius responds:

Thanks! It's for a game so it was written to be a short loop. My thinking was that if I kept everything pretty simple it hopefully wouldn't get too annoying after hearing it for basically the whole game

[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