FarFromSundown's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Smile - Instrumental]

This has such a cool, chill vibe to it. I love that almost staccato strumming in the beginning there and how it comes and goes throughout the track.
Is that a pan flute I'm hearing or what kind of VST instrument is that? It fits really well in here. Very well mixed too!

Aalasteir responds:

Ultra thank you, Mike!

The flute sound is:
Omnisphere 2
D50 - Glass Blower

[The Moment Before You]

this sounds a little better, mix-wise. it seems that certain elements are getting drowned out when all the instruments are all playing. Are you EQing each track?

One thing I learned way too late was to cut more low end from my guitars to let the bass fill that space. Even if it doesn't sound as you'd like it when it's "solo'd", it's how it sounds when it's all together that matters more.

With my tracks, I'll cut the low end pretty steeply on my main guitar tracks, then layer it with a 2nd track that has a different tone, (with a little less mid, but higher end boosted slightly) panned about 60-70% Left and Right. A quad tracked guitar riff sounds so much fuller and when you let the bass take over the low end duties, you get a nice balanced mix (back to the frequency balance I mentioned in my previous review).

Good tool to use (AND FREE!) is SPAN. It's a frequency spectrum analyzer plug in that will give you a visual aid as to what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps! Great track! I like your style of music. Much different than my own, but I appreciate the calmness of it. :D

Mersailian responds:

Thanks for taking the time to give such good advice. No, I haven't doesn't much time EQing each track, but that is a good tip that I will do on future recordings.

To be perfectly honest, I only stayed putting stuff on here because my oldest son wants to use my music on Geometry Dash, if you know what that is. He put some pressure on me to get 3 songs on, so I posted some old recordings. Been a while since I've done any recording, but I've got one I just need to write lyrics for and record vocals, so I'll incorporate your tips into that and maybe even clean up these ones.

I listened to some of your songs. You're very talented and the production sounds great! I was actually quite the metal head back in the day (still kind of am at heart), so I can appreciate heavy music. Really good stuff, keep it up!

[Daedra - Dear Earth (original)]

Scouted. Great work. Great quality too, Awesome vocals. brings me back to late 90's early 00's

[Whirlpools]

This is a cool composition, and solid vocal takes. I like the overall sound, even though the quality could definitely be better. First tip I'd give you on mastering, is if it's a muddy mix, no amount of mastering is going to help it.

A couple things I'd recommend learning more about that are simple and easy that I think would go a long way:
- Gain staging
- frequency balancing (basically the concept of achieving a flat frequency line across the spectrum vs having extreme highs or lows)
- Check out "in the mix' on you tube. Even though he exclusively uses FL Studios, all his advice are applicable to all DAWs.

You have the talent, time to hone it to do your songs justice. <3

Scouted. feel free to reach out to me on DM, I'd be happy to help where I can. Looking forward to hearing more from you

Mersailian responds:

Thank you so much!!!! This is exactly the type of feedback that I find helpful. I will certainly take your suggestions to heart and appreciate your willingness to help.

[A CRY]

love the chunky ass tone! Nice playing. That shrill tone for the lead is pretty slick. What're you using for your tones?

Napt responds:

Well, I actually use a VST called Ample Metal Hellrazer. First I added some good saturation, then I EQued it (nothing too crazy — smoothly cut lows, brickwalled highs (~15k Hz), emphasized the high-mids). Then I compressed it.

I am glad you liked the track. Thank you!

[CLOUDS DIVIDE (PENULTIMATE MIX)]

Love it! Usually not into this genre, but it's diverse enough that it's caught my intrigue. Well mixed and composed as well. Love a uniquely interesting song. Props to all involved!

ADR3-N responds:

You can thank Trois for *most* of the compositional aspect. The entire piece is worked into her endless feel-good chord progression. The rest is just me riffing on it and spitballing ideas in a musty basement, plus @Tapestoppa making some REALLY interesting glitches on my vox

[Aethæyon - (WiP)]

Sounds sick as always. My only real thing that I'd add that you haven't mentioned is maybe the bass tone? It's fine as is, tbh. I just personally love a grittier tone when the bass is more prominent like it is around 4:36. It stands out perfectly fine, but sounds a bit 'hollow'? Like maybe the mid is pulled too high? Again, just my preference. Overall, absolutely insane composition!

[An Artists Curse]

Digging that chunky ass riff!

[Dancing With a Stranger (RU Metal)]

this = awesome

ADR3-N responds:

Tyty <3

[Loss/Gain]

good to see you're still making music glenn! This one has a very somehow, uneasy vibe to it, but not in like a creepy sense. I don't really know how to describe it, but know I mean it in a good way, lol.