Adjeye's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Timekeeper]

Never heard your stuff, but thought I should check you out since I might meet you (if I make it that far), next round :).

The composition starts real slow and manages to grasp the full attention of the listener. Slowly you progress into a more active piece, starting with the violin/strings. Then at around 1:40 you manage to instantly satisfy at least me with the main melody, which I really adore! Good job. Then you break it down and build it up to 2:54 with more melody stuff in contrast to the build up before, which was more a build up into something more climactic. The end is really clever :)

I had to relisten on this on my headphones instead of my speakers to hear all the little details going around 3:40 and I must say this track works a lot better for me on headphones.

Some minor things you could've done differently:
-The ambient sounds in the beginning (the chirpy cricket sound, not the "highway in the distance) sound) feel like they are a bit too frequent, especcially when the first few instruments start to develop.
-I didn't really like the gong sound at 2:54, but I am not really able to get my head around why it is I don't like it. Feel free to skip this point since I am not even able to give any proper reason for not liking it.
-The choir at 3:23 mix nicely into the rest of the mix, but seem to lack a bit of power/warmth compared to the rest of the instruments. This is nothing track breaking tho.

Okay I have totally nitpicked there, and overal I think this is very good, I honestly hope you will make it to next round!

papkee responds:

Chalk it up to my still-developing mastering ability, but I do notice that speakers don't tend to do it as much justice as a good pair of headphones. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[~SW~ Into the Depths]

Sick

SkyeWint responds:

cancer

[NGADM 2017 Round of 64 Podcast]

I feel like I don't deserve to be in this contest the way you talk about the contestants :O

I want to wish everyone participating goodluck, and I hope I will meet you all within this contest ;)

ChronoNomad responds:

While I appreciate your humility, you have earned your spot in the Round of 64! There's a reason why you're still in the NGADM, and I'm looking forward to hearing your entry. :D

That's a fine spirit of friendly competition. I have no doubt that this will continue to be an impressive Audio Deathmatch, and I am proud to be a part of it.

[Tuath Dé]

Great track! It really takes you away around the 1 minute mark! Also great use of high quality aesthetic pleasing samples :)

Looks like you will be my competition this year! Goodluck :)

JeremyKingVA responds:

Thank you very much, and likewise!

[Classical Etude in D Minor]

This sounds great! What piano vsti do you use? I like to compose piano too, but I struggle to find a good vsti plugin for piano sound!

[In The Distance]

Sounds great man, do you want to make a collab with me?

5TanLey responds:

I dont have much time lately, but why not.. pm me if you have any ideas :)

[Sick Drum and Bass]

I know you will see this 3stars rating and think, who the hell is this a**hole, but I want to help you further instead of saddening u. This track is not so good melodic-wise and technical-wise.

First off, try to see what elements make a drum and bass track good.
This ofcourse, is different for different kind of dnb genres, I think you tried to achieve
-Neurofunk (Mostly heavy bass, minimalistic melody, mid and highs lots of room for drums) See artists like Noisia and Black Sun Empire. If you want too get a bit of the prodigy vibe back, search for the noisia remix of smash my b*tch up, its very good
-Jumpup DnB (Mostly, simple bass with simple distorted melody, viby flowy mood, drums occasionally play alone for 1/4 of a second) See artists like Macky Gee and Substainless.

These are not the only styles within DnB. Someone who mixes these two kinda up is Mussy.
Try to aim for a pure style first before mixing the styles up, you are still not technically advanced enough (which you will learn eventually) to mix styles up.

maxxpump responds:

Thanks dude only been doing this for twenty years, if you don't like it someone else will...I will say its not my best track by any stretch of the imagination, but chopping it up to be as long as it is was not a particularly easy task (it was under a minute originally!) and I know it sounds like a monkey did it, but you know what! I make trance music and don't particularly make drum and bass often, and if this is the kind of comment I get I won't make any more D&B and just stick to my normal territory! Or just make a really angry Drum and bass track (this track got over a 100 views on the tubes, so I guess this is not the correct audience or platform?)

I thought it sounded good, thanks for being blunt, I do like a constructive comment. Instead of someone saying a couple of words and that is usually along the lines of: "this track is a load of donkey doo" So thankyou in that respect for writing a long and constructive comment and in hopes that I may improve. But I will say I never said I was the prodigy and this track was made in 2007... I'v only just remixed it and do also believe im technically advanced enough that I've had radio air time on frequent occasions with the likes of the BBC and local radio so I do know I'm doing something right, even if its not to your taste!

[I Feel So Sad]

Great track! I've lately made a track where I felt very sad as wel, its called Stagnation also on newgrounds. If you got time, please give me some feedback on that one :)!

[What Lies Beyond]

Actually this is very good! I could definitely hear this in a sort of mmo or medieval kind of game, where you like, walk in a city and everything around you is good. Nothing special, its just all good, everyone minding their own business and stuff.

I like the instruments you used, it made it very dynamic. For instance around 2:05 the plucky sounds in contrast with the strings give a dynamic and deep feeling to it.

The only small thing I disliked was the trumpet (I think it was a trumpet) at the ending. I think the sound of the trumpet was a bit misplaced but other than that I think you couldn't have made this piece better in anyway.

ChronoNomad responds:

Thank you very much for the feedback, lordedri (Adjeye)! Yeah, this clearly seems to make people think of JRPGs and MMOs. That kind of walking around music, y'know? (;

Glad to hear that you like my instrument selections, too! I really like that little bit of viola pizzicato, as well. I think that's what you're referring to, anyway. I thought about utilizing more of it elsewhere in the piece, but using it sparingly made it feel all the more special to me.

Ah, yes. I'm getting so much flak for that trumpet at the end. *le sigh* Just a few people seem to like it besides me, but it's too late to change it now even if I wanted to...which I don't since I actually like that part quite a bit and the song simply wouldn't be the same without it. It wouldn't be my vision anymore if I were to capitulate, though I still appreciate the critique. Try listening to it a couple more times and see if it grows on you. That seems to be the case in just about every instance.

[Dive In (NGADM '15)]

Sounds good, dynamic, deep (not too deep of course because you don't know what you will find), interesting, happy, adventurous. It sounds great, keep it up you!

Birdinator99 responds:

Hey, thanks bud! I'll drop you a review before judging is over!

EDIT: Totally didn't do that, my bad.