ZuwerWS's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lives2Live BGM A]

I like ho chill everything is, I think it suits light playthroughs perfectly. The overall structure and the major chords make for a really welcoming vibe. At around 0:46 it starts to get really muddy with the mixing, I think lowering the volume of the bass would work. Overall I like the quaint melody, but especially near the middle it get's a bit too crowded.

[Excelentoso]

I see you tried to experiment with panning in this one, for better and for worse. The beginning definitely feels a bit unbalanced, and later on the main melody is way too loud when compared to the rest. I think this could be resolved by maybe adding some piano asque chords playing in the opposite ear to what the guitar's playing, and then make a slight transition to the main melody, with it also being not as loud. I think the main melody is all right, and with some better mixing it'd definitely sound nice. The progression and the chords are alright, I like the overall motif. Last thing I'd like to mention i that the guitar seem to go off-key at 1:36 from what I can hear. Overall definitely a step forward and I like how you tried to experiment with the panning, but the overall piece has it's growing issues because of that.

[Last Night! Lights Out!]

Very fun brass, right off the start. I feel it stands out a tiny bit too much in the mixing, right along with the next main instruments, but it isn't experience breaking kind of bad, just a small thing I noticed. The multiple melodies going on at the same time sound great, They aren't always playing at the same time, but when they are like at 0:17 it's just such a pleasent feeling for the ears. The melody itself is also amazing, it feels really out there and uncontrollable in a good way, like if you had a bad ass wolf being as cool as possible kind of uncontrollable, wild even. The accompanying instruments also sound great, with the bass probably being my favourite. I like the attention to detail at 1:52 with the piano in the background. Overall, I'd say this is a great funky piece with only some slight barely noticable mixing issues.

[The Insomaniac]

Alright so I really love how the music complements the story, with all these sort of effects that underline each taken action, Although It feels sometimes like a bit of an overdo, but due to it being such a pleasure just to listen to them I can't really complain. The narration also is great, as it gives so much emotion. The way stuff like "The Boy" is said just makes me chuckle. There are some points like at 4:12-4:14 or 4:36 where the music is definitely too loud when compared to the narrator, but these moments are rather few and between. As for the story it serves it's purpose, but also kind of hard to understand due to the banger orchestra. I feel like it's rather just a collection of events that happen to make a up a story rather than the opposite, like there's no real world here, and I get that it might be due to time restrictions of it being simply short, and that it isn't meant to build up the world, but we don't really know anything and are just supposed to go with the flow. I also feel like the sentences get way too long, lasting entire paragraphs. Overall the experience of simply listening to the fire orchestra and the narrator is fun enough, and the idea of the creepypasta is cool, I definitely can't say either are perfect.

[Going through the storm]

I like the attention to detail with panning, maybe I'm just going crazy but it felt at certain moments like if certain notes were expressively stronger in one ear rather than in both at the same time. I also really like the melody on the piano, it has some beautiful chords, and I especially love the part that starts at 0:56. The overall structure keeps it being interesting the whole way through, and along with each section there's a different variation of the left hand which I also appreciate, as a person who finds it quite hard to make an interesting bass pattern. When the bass pedal gets introduced it definitely helps the on beats feel even more monumental. As for the 2:24 section, It took me a while to make up my feelings about that section, and I'd maybe shorten it to not make the tension feel like if it keeps sitting in a place for a while, but I also understand why you did it the way you did. I really like how it ends as well on the subtle note. Overall, quite a minimalistic but also good piece

[Botanic Boardwalk]

I like how the main motif is used here, at first going down but then resolving in a nice way. I'd maybe make the pattern twice as long, or change some chords in bar 3 of the pattern to make it less repetitive, but as it is it still fits. I think the main instrument that kicks in at 0:09 is too loud when compared to the rest. The melody while simple doesn't get that stale due to the constant shake ups. The 0:46 part feels a bit awkward, maybe it's due to the overall volume of the instrument, but there's definitely something in there that makes it sound off that I'm not quite able to pin down. At 1:06 I think the main instrument should have been changed to a different one because the bass does not sound good on it. I liked the quick and snappy transition at 1:31, but after the next section starts, I think the main melody has too many notes playing one after another, that don't neccisirely make up for a cohesive narration. It definitely sounds like a second motif got it's way into here, and while I like the idea, I think it's a bit too late to introduce right at the end. Overall I like the ideas you have in here, but I think the execution is a bit rough around the edges, there's definitely a fun tune to be found in here, but due to the overall audio leveling issues and the melody not being able to find it's home for most of the duration I can't say it's good, nor bad.

[Beyond Nevada]

I like how this piece sounds like if it was telling a story with all the effects at the beginning. I think you found a really good middle ground sounding too hectic and not hectic enough for the theme. I especially love how you used the different sound effects, from the siren and the really loud crush, and the drum instruments. Overall I think the whole beginning is great, and I am really keen on the amount of detail you gave to each beat. As for the first main part, I think it's solid. I don't like it as much as I do the first 25 seconds, and I don't know what exactly I would change, but as it is it's still really good, though maybe a bit too predictable when compared to how well balanced the beginning felt. Around 0:52 I noticed how good the panning was, I like to hear stuff on different sides of my headphones, and I think you pulled it off just right. I like the more goofy part at 0:57 as well, with the time signature change near 1:08, or at least what's a shortened bar. I think that the choir is just a bit too quiet when compared to the bass, but other than that it sounds rather good. As for the rest of the thing, I don't feel like it's something I'd listen to on my own, but I still think it's at least decent, can't say too much on it other than that. I also really like how it loops, I didn't even realise at first that it did loop. Overall I think what you have got here is really nice, and even though not a thing I'd listen to on a daily basis, there's clearly a lot of effort in here.

[Pancakes]

Okay so we have had Waffles, now it's time for Pancakes. I don't know how you did the rain sounding like sound effect, but I really like it. The piano with the heavy effects put on it sounds really nice and powerful, and the drums complement it well, although I feel like the open and closed hit hats don't really fit, at least sound wise, I'd just try it without them, or with a much lesser emphasis put on them (basically making them more quiet). I wouldn't say the first part is good, it definitely feels a bit too repetitive, with the same pattern being repeated over and over. I think it works better as just an introduction, where as here, at least to me it sounds like if it constantly wanted to go some where, but didn't. It's not bad, but it's not that great in my eyes either. The transition at 0:46 I quite like, although I feel like the more heavy sound does evade a bit too quickly, and maybe it could sound better if it stayed there for another two or three seconds. I really like the melody that's introduced around 1:14. I think the main melody instrument is a bit quiet, but other than that the middle part sounds great on it's own. I like how you spice things up with the drums, that change bit every bar. I definitely think that around 2:30 the mixing on the drums could have been much better. The feet / bass drum is way too loud when compared to the rest of the sounds. Overall I think there's some good ideas here, that especially shine near the middle part, but think that as a whole, even with the cool rhythm and very well made effects throughout the piece, it does fall apart a bit when it comes to the mixing especially on the drums and some other stuff I mentioned.

MauveDash responds:

The hi hats I agree looking in the past should have been quieter! This piece sadly ends up being what happens when Mauve has a cool rhythm idea but nothing more :(

Sorry for the slight disappointment! Though that could be one projecting onto you.

[Plumper]

I like the cheeky vibe of this one, although I have some issues. The drums I don't feel like fit the melodies, which them themselves kind of don't feet together as well. Melodically I think it's all rather fine, just sound wise. I think you can hear it most on the foot pedal, which just sounds weird when put together with the hit-hats, which sound really compressed. And the saw at 0:43 I'd definitely change the sound of, because it really clashes in sound with the other instruments, or it might be that I just dislike sound of pure saws/sines. Overall the progression is alright, though it feels a bit too quickly moving? I'd maybe try to put some more work onto how the drums sound, and in the first bars making it really lively, with some snares and all that, and with time turn them into what it sounds like overall here, with some effects to make it sound more natural of a transition. I think I understand what you were going for, with it turning from more natural to more electric as time goes on, but when the drums are the same throughout the whole first part, I don't think that works quite well. I like how the part at 1:06 sounds at first, but think it get's too much mashed together after 1:28, the three melodies don't quite work together, and maybe if you'd want to keep those I'd recommend deleting some notes from the melodies, or simply at the end to make for a nicer transition turn one of them into a full octave note route to the root chord. Overall I personally didn't like this one, The melody and vibe is alright I think, but the transitions, drums and overall structure I feel like need some touch up on.

[Saved Too]

I really like what you did with the piano. And the drums add onto the chaotic vibe the melody goes for, although I'd change some parts like around 0:25 it sounds quite off with the claps, I think a more focused pattern, with a much bigger attention on the onbeats would fit better. Also regarding the drums, I think you went too much into the wet reverb with this one. There's no real division into melodies and choruses, which also is an interesting choice. You don't quite know what to expect, and I quite like that in a song like this. The chords also are very fun and jazzy. I think that the change to 4/4 at the end was a good idea, though maybe executed a bit too early. Overall I like it, though I'd still change some things.