Bearhack's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Partner Theme (1f1n1ty Remix)]

The words I want to say to express my feelings on this piece do not exist. Seriously. There is just so much variety, so many effects, so much traveling around - I can tell without your lengthy exposition that you put in a lot of hard work into this. IMHO, this deserves at 5/5 from me.

Just a little bit of technical opinion though - At 100%, I did still get some clipping that results in some distortion. It's a personal preference of mine to listen to awesome music at 100% even if most people keep their master at or around 60%. You really shouldn't be afraid of the hard limiter during mastering, while some algorithms are notoriously deficient, others really don't degrade your sound that much. I use Audacity when mastering my music, and I always start off with a hard limit down to -5 or -6db to smooth out the spikes so that I don't wind up with clipping after I compress, equalize and/or normalize. Just don't do it after you compress. Alternately, you can make sure when you're rendering to jack up your master to 100% and keep the peak at about -5 or -6db, then you won't need to hard limit at all. Hope that helps!

Onefin responds:

Wow, thanks for the review!

As for the mastering part, for this track I did basically no mastering. I left the default Fruity Limiter on the master and that was it. :/ It's just my inability to master well makes it so that the Fruity Limiter sounds better than anything I can conjure. About the hard limiter, a lot of people in past reviews have told me that hard limiting is really noticeable. It's not something I hear, because I kinda suck, but most people tell me it's really bad. Maybe it's the algorithm. I don't know. :/

Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate feedback. :)

[Forward Modulation_0.7]

I really was surprised when the brass came out of nowhere over the piano, and it sounded really good even with the dragged out syncopation and melodic indirection. (lol, in my head I went "Horns!" when I heard it). I just wish there was a little more variety in the piece... if your intent was to keep the piano as the background accompaniment, then another verse or 2 of brass wouldn't really be a bad thing, it really has the promise of a wonderful melodic journey. A technical side-note: With my master volume at 100%, there was some clipping in the lower register which created a little distortion - try equalizing the lower register down a little, or hard limiting it during mastering to -2 or -1db, I think it will sound a little better. Just a little constructive criticism - take it with a grain of MSG. Final word - Keep up the good work! 3/5

dylanasinbob responds:

Thanks for the tips my friend! I don't have nearly the amount of time I wish I had to master so most of my time I mix and if I have a little time to master Ill do so just to try to get the bounce to be as close to -6db as possible. Anyway, thanks for the tips Ill definitely keep those things in mind when I get a chance to revisit this song in the future!

[Restless Jester Wants To Pester]

This is a very well crafted piece of art for what it is designed from a technical point of view - IMHO a little strange in places with some chord progressions and accidentals that don't quite fit right, but do contribute to the overall effect of "flighty" and "unpredictable" which is just what you were going for. The unresolved ending fits right in with the whole theme, however - I think that you could still maintain that "hanging" feeling by leaving the final chord progression leading back into the beginning of a loop somewhere in the piece, thus creating a sense of ambiguity without leaving the listener with a jarring cliffhanger. Just constructive criticism, take it with some MSG. 4/5 :-D

[Papyrus]

I absolutely love the melodies and effects that were added to provide a little spice and variety. I really hate to say it but the beat right at the beginning sounds a little canned until it gets to the meat of the music, so perhaps cut the intro down a couple of measures to make just enough setup for the theme would smooth out the beginning better. Just a little bit of constructive criticism, take it with a grain of MSG. Otherwise, really really good 4/5

FinaLee responds:

Don't sweat it. I always take constructive feedback into account for my newer works! I was really happy with how everything sat well in the mix, but I think it's because there is a bit more minimalism in this one than in my older works. That might be why it sounds like it needed a minute to get everything situated. Thanks for the review!

[Rise Of The Fallen]

I have to admit that I generally like really gritty heavy metal, and there's a really good chord progression in this piece that could grind really well, but there are some rather glaring problems with the composition. Please take this as constructive criticism, because I think this can sound way good with a little work...

1. The dynamic range is too large - At 50% volume, I couldn't hear any sound until about half way through, then for the last 50 seconds, it sounded like it was hard-clipping. I know the intent was a gradual fade effect, but the spread is too much. You can achieve the same effect with a -12db to -3db range at full volume, then if I set my master at 50% I should still be able to feel it.
2. The rhythm timing is off - or, more to the point, it seems arrythmic. I don't really know if this was your intent, but setting the frame of the piece within a solid time signature can really accentuate the points when you want to "break away" in syncopation.
3. Try variations on your primary chord progression - it can add the gritty flavor I think you're trying to achieve with enveloping dynamics through shifts in harmony.

Anyway, just a couple of suggestions I think could make this piece shine. Take them with a grain of monosodium glutamate. 2/5

[Official Fly Fly Penguin Theme]

This has a really catchy beat and upbeat feel on the recursive theme. Some of the ambience sounds work well like the "jumping" sound effect, while others sound almost like white or pink noise in the background and seem to grind against the bass line - After listening to it for about 10 minutes on loop some of that grinding got a little irritating though. Overall, I feel this is a really good loop - 4/5 ;-D Keep up the good work!

3foHorky responds:

Thank you very very much for taking your time to do the critique! I agree with everything you said. There is a bit too much grind on certain elements in treble frequencies. I noticed it too but didn't think it would matter that much, I should certainly improve upon that.

[Kiss of a Harpist]

I don't give a rating of 5/5 to everything, but you deserve the respect for this one. The melody and harmony mesh together absolutely perfectly, and the bass rather than being overpowering, compliments them. I first heard this on denisolenison's idlebytes, genius to put this into an idle game--makes you want to keep on clicking ;-D--, and the fade-out/fade-in is a perfect way of working around the looping .mp3 problem in flash. I can loop this one for inspiration while I write my novel. Kudos, man. Keep on jamming.

[Spook Master]

now that's just dirty, I can't wait for you to release the final cut.

T1LTED responds:

Thanks! Subscribe and you can be notified when I release it =)

[The Flim Flam Hooligan]

I really like the pattern on this one, forgive me for being a little critical here but it took an awful long time getting down in the beginning. The rest was pretty good though. 4/5

Hyperion666 responds:

mm yeah, I can see that. I usually make a lot of ambience, it probably reflects on my other work, meaning I take my time on things not neccesarily the sounds. Your words were not being critical at all. I think it was just noticing the obvious. You don't need to be apologetic at all unless you are purposely being rude and being a douchebag like one guy is and is still trying to talk shit in a pm while accusing me of his lack of competence rofl. Sorry I find it funny when people get what they deserve and try to blame others. so stay tuned for my music to take a huge down grade because him and his posse are probably going to rape my ratings because he is butt hurt for most likely upsetting many other people, since that is what douche bags do..... well damn I actually think he got under my skin I'm all ranting on my post hahaha damnit anyway thanks bro next few days should be interesting to see.

[AxEL - Hectic [Clip]]

meh, just sounds like a bunch of noise crammed together, though I have to admit that it is remastered very well despite the poor composition. 2/5