Fanopeion's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[TIGER M - Rhythm Shortage]

I don't know the background of this skit at all so my review might not be applicable in this case:

I think that even if you're going to emphasis the void of music, with these sound effects, you should have some water running. Let me explain what I mean by that. The sound effects you're parading through this skit ride on silence. In general sound engineering you'll have to combat this by either;

1) Use/make noises with more swelling or sweep qualities in order to ride the silence
2) Fill in the silence, throughout the skit. You could perhaps loop, quietly in the background, some empty vinyl scratches or perhaps AM-radio static.

TigerM responds:

Thank You for your kind input. =)
Most importantly--thank you for listening in Fanopeion! =3
You Rock!

F.I.L.,
-WAM! DJ, TIGER M! ^_~*

[Cafe con Classe]

You clearly know what you're doing.

I really like your choice of lead synth, having that accordion with a quick cutoff gives it such a delightful prankster-ish quality (in the context of the melody of course).
The song on whole, with its instruments, was nicely executed; but the ending wasn't all that conclusive in my opinion, but what the heck; twas a nice ride.

However, I can't shake the feeling of having heard some clutter in places. But if that was clutter that I heard it is very minimal and perhaps of no concern.

Nice job, man :)

Synthapse responds:

Thx bro!!! You're right about the clutter...i'm still working on optimizing the elements I use rather than just pushing more and more things together.

[A Dirge]

Marvelous.

The composition, though typical, is very tight and doesn't ooze out (rhythmically speaking).
The audio levels are excellent and never overwhelm; except in the case of the singing around 1:50, but given the genre it might be in character after all.
I might be a little biased since I'm a fan of both alternative and grunge but I like this one :)

P.S:
I would've liked to see the lyrics on display.

SOVIETsounds responds:

Thank you very much! We're really glad that you're digging it. The lyrics for all 4 songs should be up soon.

[The Mindful Path]

Aathmospheric...

It starts off as pretty laid back and relaxing. The baseline is very descriptive to the song (I hope you understand what I mean). I think the panning job pulls off perfectly for every sound you throw into it, drums, bass, etc, though personally I would've been really pleased to hear a 180° swell (bass). But never the matter, actually.

The rhythm is masterfully crafted as well. And I absolutely love the rhythmic transitions. The drums are truly amazing.
This is one of my favorites so far.

Nice work you two :)

[Pugilator]

Exceptional

You manage to draw out a peaceful melody with exciting variations.
The way the different instruments interact to tell a cheerful/uprising yet a sad/dark story is amazing.

The mix is just... complete. What else can I say?

Great job xD

RunningShadows responds:

Thanks a lot man. I am glad you enjoyed!

[Stop starring at my cat]

I'm sorry...

...that this is not an actual review (the only thing is that the drums are strangely compressed IMO) but a suggestion of sorts. I note that you're kind of synchronizing the bass drum to the tempo of the guitar which is pretty neat.

Therefore I urge you to check this band out if you already haven't. Their theme is quite similar to yours (I obviously don't know your orientation on vocals, but what the hey xD)

Threat Signal - See through my eyes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7QzV rfT-U

Keep it up dude/dudes/people
:)

HighBallers responds:

brah....your teeling me about threat signal? LOL.... i known them since forever, i love them. This was more of an attempt to sound like some born of Osiris or periphery. appreciate the review

[Left Me Lonely]

You got a nice formant to your voice :)

(I'm sorry if this review offends you in any way)

You're the type I could imagine as the general soft rock/ blues singer. You've got the stage between a clear throat and raspy though you're more to the scale of a clear voice. I like that.

However I feel that this song is in part not completed. There's the absence of bass for starters. It could give this song so much more life to have the lowest end of the mix filled out.

There's the thing with the drums too. Are they computerized? If not... what kind of a cymbal are you using and what do you use to record the drumset with? The crash is odd in a way. The pounce in the bass drum is however incredible satisfactory in a way :). I would really like to know.

Keep it up, dude.

WaxZiLLa responds:

hey thanks for taking the time to listen to the track and as well leave me a comment. Yes indeed the drums are sequenced. I recorded this track before but I've now redone them on my own using my equipment. Sadly, I do not have a full band so everything is done by me: including the drums. I did my best to simulate a drummer but i'm not a drummer by any stretch of the imagination. As per your comment about the bass, I'll take another gander at it since I did do the mix using headphones. The idiot that I am I didn't set up my monitors as yet. Perhaps that's in the cards as well!!

Thanks again and check out my other stuff if you got time!!!

[Hexagonal Channel]

Mildly chaotic...

...Yet this is intriguing nonetheless. I really love the way how each instrument is pronounced in a way that it will not conflict or overlap another sound/instrument/synth/whatever.

I admire the composition of the drums when given a closer look.The bongo drums are epic. Are those samples or do you make them yourself by sitting in front of a microphone? Are you a drummer by any chance?

I feel like this song could be in a sci-fi movie about something paranormal... like aliens or something. Imagine if X-files had been an 80's show :)

The only thing that really bothers me about this song is the staleness of the crashes. They seem oddly flat. But that's just my opinion?

DENT-de-lion responds:

Yeah... Well, the crashes are pretty flat and stale. It's the best free soundfont I could find. I kind of like it for this song, but for others it would be nice to have better sounding drums. The bongos are also a soundfont, but it took a lot of experimenting to write that part because the voice isn't GM and I write my songs in MIDI. I am a drummer at heart, but I like playing piano and just jamming with any instrument. I would love to learn how to play saxophone or violin. I think the mixing sounds pretty good except for when the volume gets quieter around 1:32 and stays there for a little while. You can't really tell all that much though! Thanks for the review!

[Long night]

The genre I love :)

There is so much I love about this song. The way it finds a way to flow nicely through the organized conflict of the note spectrum (I have no better way to describe this through my limited vocabulary).

The drums are incredible too :). The filtered section interacts perfectly with the synths.

I love the way you play with the time signatures, especially the occasional rapid snare and/or other drum part closing towards the end of the beat.
I don't know if I listened to this correctly but if I'm not mistaken this is chiefly in 13/4 which is a pretty nice beat to use IMO.

You are a musical talent. No doubt.

[Tetris on my piano]

I like it for the following reasons:

The tetris song or "Korobeiniki" is originally intented to capture a "sad" story between a peasant girl and a travelling merchant (I think). The strings certainly add to the sad factor.

This sounds almost vinyl-ized. If you were to add some grain onto this recording then it would be much more fun to listen to in a certain way. Most people tend to think about pre-revolutionary Russia (or whatever) when they hear this song and by having it sound like a recording in an old jukebox would add much to the athmosphere.

Good work :)

xxDjShockxx responds:

Thanks! This review means so much to me honestly :)