FinaLee's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tetris Ska]

Haha, definitely ska! Not sure what else to say to this. All the instruments are pretty clear and the sound is nice and wide. Guitar solo was a nice touch. What made you think of giving this a ska rendition?

marsonNG responds:

TY. I dunno really, I just always liked writing ska renditions of songs and thought the tetris A theme (Korobeiniki) was pretty catchy and would make a nice ska tune.

[Inspiration]

That's a really cool kick! Whole jam kind of has an industrial sound to it. The leads are a little muddy when played together with each other. You can probably do some more precise EQ cutting in the future to make all those instruments pop out a little more. I know that saw is struggling to find itself in the mix. Also, the watermark is pretty lame. What's up with that, man?

[NG AudioPortalPodcast#005]

Glad that podcasts are a thing now. Congrats on being the first one ever! Loved the interview with LiquidOoze.

YouriX responds:

Yeah its freaking awesome! Glad you liked it! ;D

[Uh Oh]

Cool, quirky, and huge! I love those little stutters in the drums. Reminds me of a bunch of crazy breakcore tracks from back in the day. Heavy as hell, dude!

Zanzlanz responds:

Thanks a ton, FinaLee! I've been trying to make something more heavy lately, and I feel like the drum beat finally satisfies me :D

I definitely like crazy/complicated music, but the average breakcore is too insane for my taste XD

[Derelict]

You've come a long way in just a year, dude! I think you used to be called icyflamez or something when you were asking around for help in the FL questions thread. Now here you are throwing out some pretty legit trance tracks on the portal. I'm in love with this one. The level of atmosphere in this is almost tangible.

Lethal-Input responds:

Wow i'm surprised you remembered my old name! Lol thanks for the comment!

[We Were (Idea)]

Sounds like a good start to a chill tune! I really like how the vocal fx started to pan after the stabs came in. The stereo effect on the snare was a nice touch, and I really prefer to hear them on the side a little bit in a mix. The plucking guitar sounding instrument kind of adds a little bit of a pop feel to the track, and I'm totally digging it. :D

As for things I think you should watch out for if you decide to follow through with this, the first thing I noticed was how many of the other instruments were sitting in the mix. Towards the end of the track, you've got three different instruments playing in close proximity on the middle EQ spectrum: the piano, the stabs, and the E. piano sounding synth that fills in every few measures. I would probably try to EQ down one or two of those instruments in the lower middle end so you can avoid having a muddy sounding mix.

Also, I think you should try to make the vocal samples a little more prominent/louder, as I find them to be the most unique sound in the track. These are just my opinions. Good luck!

[XODUS]

Sounds like you got some inspiration from a certain thread in General with that intro there. :> Lyrically, it sounds awesome, but the beat is kind of whack. Everything sounds too close to the vocals and it makes the whole mix sound kind of muddy. I think you should try to pan out the instruments a little more and scoop some of the frequencies so the vocals have more room to pop out, since they're usually the main focus in hip-hop.

Out of personal preference, I would suggest using a little compression on the drums so they don't sound as...lazy, I guess is the best word to describe it. Keep at it, man!

[He Was Me]

I love it, man! Was a little unsure if I liked different acoustic guitar tracks all the way on one side, but it felt pretty alright once the vocals eased in.

fearing responds:

thank you thank you! :)